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CSJEKRIGHT DEPOSm 



THE 

Prophet of Palmyra 
mormonism 

Reviewed and Examined in the Life, Character, and Career of its Founder, 
from ''Cumorah HilV to Carthage Jail and the Desert 



TOGKTHER WITH A COMPLETE 

HISTORY OF THE MORMON ERA 

In Illinois, and an Exhaustive Investigation of the " Spalding 
Manuscript " Theory of the Origin of the Book of Mormon 



BY 

THOMAS GrREGG 




NEW YORK 
JOHISr B. ALDEN, PUBLISHEK 

1890 






Copyright, 1890, 

BY 

THOMAS GREGG. 



TO THE READER. 



Mes. Paddock, in the Preface to one of her 
remarkable portrayals of the inner life of Mormon- 
ism, has the following paragraph : 

" Surely, to-day, whoever inflicts an additional 
volume upon a long-suffering public, ought to be 
able to set up an unassailable plea in justification 
thereof." 

While this is true in a general sense, it is doubly 
so in its relation to that band of people — knaves 
and fanatics — who, more than fifty years ago began 
a scheme of deception in New York, which, in its 
progress since, has caused so much misery and 
crime in many of the States, and now aims at 
insubordination and independence in Utah. 

Many books have been written on the subject of 
MoRMONiSM ; some of them honest, trustworthy'', 
and valuable ; others, sensational and unreliable ; 
and still more, utterly unworthy. Yet, notwith- 
standing all this, the great Christian public in 
America and abroad remains to-day strangely 
indifferent to, and ignorant of, the origin, character, 
and purposes of the miserable fraud. 



vi TO THE BEADER. 

The undersigned offers no apology for the matter 
of the following pages. Content with his purpose 
to add to the mass of credible history, and to aid 
in exposing a most silly and dangerous delusion, he 
leaves it with an intelligent and discerning public, 
hoping neither to escape censure nor disarm crit 
icism. 

Th. Gregg. 

Ifamilton, Illinois, 1889, 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Intkodxjctoey. - - " 1 

Solomon Spalding — False Prophets in all Ages — Joseph Smith, 
the Founder of Mormonism— Compared to Mahomet — His 
Character and Aims — Origin of Mormonism — An Over- 
shadowing Question. 

CHAPTER II. 
The Beginnings of the Impostuee. - 9 

Disagreeing Statements — Impossible Claims — The Smith 
Family — Ignorance and Superstition — The Prophet's Own 
Story — "History of Joseph Smith" — The Angel Nephi — 
Plates Revealed — The Urim and Thummim— Second, 
Third, and Fourth Visions — Hill of Cumorah — Stone Box 
— The Prophet's Marriage — "Persecutions" — After Four 
Years — Martin Harris and the Translation. 

CHAPTER III. 

As Told by Othees. - - - 25 
David Whitmer, One of the Eleven Witnesses — Interviewed 
by the Kansas City Journal. 

CHAPTER IV. 
Highly Ixteee sting Lettee. - - 84 
Letter from Hon. Stephen S. Harding, former Governor of 
Utah Territory — His JBoyhood Acquaintance with the 
Smith Family. 

CHAPTER V. 
Ex-Go VEENOE Haeding's Lettee Contintje®. 45 
Curious Developments — Harris's Frenzy — An Incident in In- 
diana — In Utah — Reflections, Suggestions, etc. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Professoe Anthon's Stoey. - « 57 
A Plain Statement which Everybody Can Believe. 



via COJ^TEKTS. 

CHAPTER Vn. 
A Teebible Dllemma. - - 63 

Two Revelations and their Causes — Harris and Satan Unjustly- 
Accused — The Real Culprit Unknown — A Happy Ruse 
Solves the Difficulty. 

CHAPTER YIIL 

The Stoey and the Book Examtn^d. - 75 

Evidences of Falsity — The Record — Its Title — " Confounding 

of Language" — The Nephite-Lamanite Americans — Metal 

of the Plates — ^Plates Still Under Ground — A Bonanza — 

Mariner's Compass — To Work by Faith. 

CHAPTER IX. 

EXAirLNATIO:!^ CONTDTUED. - - 85 

A story for Ship-Builders — A Year's Voyage — Eight Wonder- 
ful Barges — An Electric Light — The Land of Promise — 
War a Pastime — A Great Battle — Words of Isaiah — Beasts 
in the Promised Land — Remarkable Translation. 

CHAPTER X. 

Review Coi^inued. - - - 96 

Testimony of Three Witnesses — Also of Eight Witnesses — 
"What More Need be Said?"— Death to Behold the 
Plates — A Box of Brickbats — Testimony Analyzed — 
Smith's Ijyse Dixit — Collusion or Deception — Testimony 
Invalid — Strang's Failure — Laban's Sword and Lehi's 
Directors. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Further Revelations and Labors. - 107 
The World's Redemption at Hand— Harris Obstinate, but 
Yields — He Sees Money in It — Revelations Continue — 
Church Discipline — Sidney Rigdon's Hand Manifest— 
A New Statement Concerning Him — Church Organized 
— Calvin Stoddard's Conversion — "Support" for the 
Prophet— No. 1 Provided For— The Elect Lady— Rigdon 
Converted — Takes High Rank— P. P. Pratt— Zion Estab- 
lished — Fanatical Exceeses — Smith and Cowdery Bap- 
tized. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Stake Planting. - - 121 

Translation of the Scriptures — Reasons for It — Translation 
Suspended — The First Hegira — Cowdery's Mission a Fail- 
ure — The Stake at Kirtland — Another in Missouri — Expe- 
dition Thither — Ezra Booth's Secession — Zion Located — 
An Organ Established — The Expulsion — A Crusade and 
lis Termination. 



CONTENTS, ix 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Aiq- Anti-Bai^king Bank. - - 133 
Rigdon President, Smith Cashier — Notes Issued — IN^o Redemp- 
tion — Pittsburgh Bankers — Bank Breaks — Flight of Its 
Officers — The Kirtland Stake Abandoned. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
FuETHEE Stake Planting. - - 138 
Adam-ondi-Ahmon, Far West, and Others — Apostasy Shows 
its Head — The Danites — War and Violence — Mobs and 
Banishment. 

CHAPTER XV. 
Across the Mississippi Eastward. - 149 
Exodus from Missouri and First Appearance in Illinois — 
Remarks — The Situation. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Immigration and Settlement. - - 156 

Status in Illinois — The New City — Mission to Washington — 

Governor Lucas's Letter — Great Church Conference — 

Mission to the Jews in Europe and Asia — Call to the 

Faithful. 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Progress and Politics. - - 164 

First Great Error— Presidential Election of 1840— How Will 
the Prophet Vote? — Whig Convention — Nominations — A 
Disgraceful Act — Little and Douglas — Dr. Cbarles — The 
Charters — Their Character — Organizations — John C. Ben- 
nett — The Warsaw Signal — Smith Offended — His Char- 
acteristic Letter — The Times and Seasons. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
An Anti-Mormon Party. - - 175 
Unworthy Sycophancy — A Growing Apprehension — Public 
Meetings — An Anti-Mormon Party — Its Candidates 
Elected — Thomas Ford for Governor— T/ie Wasp. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Nauvoo Temple. - - 181 

Temple Building— At Nauvoo— Corner-Stone Laid— Revela- 
tion Demanding It — Also a "Boarding House" — The 
"Nauvoo House " Unfinished— Stockholders Named by 
Revelation. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Much Ado About Theft. - - 189 
Hyrum Smith's Affidavit— And the Twelve— Brother Joseph's 
Affidavit and Proclamation— The Court-Martial and all the 
Generals. 



X CONTEJ!^TS. 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Game of Habeas Coepfs. - 196 

Arrest of Smith at Quincy, 1S41 — Trial Before Judge Douglas 

— Discharge — Attempted Assassination of Governor Boggs 
of Missoim — O. P. Eockwell Charged with the Crime — 
Xew Demand for Smith and Eockwell — Arrest in Xauvoo 
— Habeas Corpus Applied by the Municipal Court — Ford's 
Statement — Ee-arrest and Trial Before Judge Pope and 
ZHscharge — The "Writs, etc. 

CHAPTEE XXTI. 

MoEE Habeas Coepus Woek. - 206 

Another Indictment and Demand — CongTessional Canvass — 
Walker and Hoge — Arrest Xear Dixon — Great Excitement 
— The Officers Prisoners — The Prophet Triumphant — A 
Strange Cavalcade — Another Habeas Corpus — LaTvyer 
SouthVick's Statement — Eesult of the Canvass — "Brother 
Hyrum's" Eevelation — Walker Defeated. 

CHAPTEE XXin. 

Two Ways of Teleixg a Stobt. - 218 

Story of the Arrest, as Told by Two — The Prophet's Story — 
The Officer's Story. 

CHAPTEE XXIV. 

A Stoem-Clottd Eises, - - 223 

Quarrel Between the Chiefs— General Bennett's Defection — 
Charges and Denials — Bennett Accepts the "Birffetings"' 
and Leaves— His Letters to the Sangamo Journal — Tes- 
timonials Pro and Con. 

CHAPTEE XXY. 

A Pbeslde^stiax Cajsdzdate. - - 232 

For President of the United States, General Joseph Smith, of 
Illinois — For Vice-President, Sidney Eigdon, of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

CHAPTEE XXVI. 

Ax LycPEXDixG Ceisis. - - 235 

Eumblings of a Volcano — A Secession Organized — An Opposi- 
tion Church — ^AXewspaper "Xuisance'' Abated. 

CHAPTEE XXVn. 

A Stbaxge Documext. - 245 

Showing the Reasons Why — Ji'au-coo Neighbor Extra — Recit- 
ing Action of the City Ceiiiicil Kegarding the Expositor 
Xuisance — OfficiaL 



CONTEXTS. xi 

CHAPTER XXYIII. 

The Atoxement. . - - 269 

Great Excitement — Writs Procured— Public Meetings — Citi- 
zens Arming — The Governor Appealed to — Arrives at 
Carthage and Takes Command — Mayor and Council of 
Nauvoo Summoned — Arrested, but Fail to Appear — 
Finally Came in and Surrendered — Released on Bail — Re- 
arrested for Treason — Governor's Definition of Treason — 
Marches with a Small Force to the City — The Smiths 
Killed in Jail — Great Consternation. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

How THE Deed Was Doio:. - - 281 

Effect of the Panic — Governor Ford's Plan Revealed — Atttack 
on the Jail by the Mob — The Prophet and His Brother 
Killed— How it was Done — Purposes of the Mob — Willard 
Richard's Statement. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Aeeests, I]stdictments, AifD Teials. - 293 

Military Encampment Called — The Wolf Hunt — Governor 
Ford Interferes — Brings Another Force — March to Nauvoo 
— To Warsaw — Joseph H. Jackson — Indictments — Trials 
of the Prisoners — Found Not Guilty. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Stkuggle for the Succession. - 303 

^Sidney Rigdon — Brigham Young — Parley P. Pratt — Orson 
Pratt — William Smith — Orson Hyde — James J. Strang — 
An Ecclesiastical Trial — Hyde on Rigdon. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
A N^ew Prophet— J AiiES J. Straistg. - 312 

Strang's Claim to the Succession— His Revelation— Sets up at 
Yoree— He, too, Finds Plates— His Arrogance and Pre- 
tensions—Arrested for Treason — Tried and Acquitted — ' 
A Polygamist — His Violent Death — Fate of Mormon 
Prophets. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
More Violence and Bloodshed. - 320 

Three Obnoxious Officials— Arrest of Senator Davis— Nauvoo 
Charter Repealed — Increase of Crime — Murder of Miller 
and Leiza— Of Irvine Hodge— Of Colonel Davenport— Of 
Dr. Marshall — Death of Sheriff Deming — Burning of Mor- 
ley-Town — Killing of Lieutenant Worrell— Of McBratney 
— Of Wilcox and Daubenheyer — Incidents of the Burning 
— Arrival of Colonel Hardin with State Troops. 



xii CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

T^TKE. CoxmriES Interfere— The End ApPEOACHiNa. 334 

Colonel Hardin and His Advisers — Major Warren Left in Com- 
mand — Convention of Nine Counties — Browning's Resolu- 
tions — Action of tlie Convention — Correspondence with 
the Mormon Leaders — The Inevitable Accepted. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Exodus Begtjn. - - 342 
Active Preparations for Leaving — Crossing into Iowa — Major 
Warren and His Force — Disbanded and Re-mustered — O. 
P. Rockwell — Arrest, Trial, and Acquittal — ^Dr. Pickett — 
Posse Called Out — Major Parker's Force — ^War of Procla- 
mations — Posse under Carlin — Singleton's Peace — Resigns 
the Command — Major Brockman Succeeds — Advance 
toward the City. 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
A Battle — A Treaty — And the End. - 353 

Warsaw SignaVs Report of the Battle — Quincy Committee 
of One Hundred — A Truce — The City Surrenders — The 
Treaty — The Killed and Wounded — More Trouble and 
More Troops — ^Reflections. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The Exodus — The Desert and Wilderness. 363 

Brigham Young's Choice — En-route Westward — Kanesville — 
"Winter Quarters" — Colonel Kane's Description — Mis- 
souri Bepuhlican Correspondent — The Mormon Battahon 
— Brigham Assumes Supreme Power — Pushes on to Salt 
Lake and Returns — Main Body Reaches the Valley — Stake 
Planted — State of Deseret. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
The Mormon Temples. - 380 

The Kirtland Temple — In Missouri — At Nauvoo — Its Destruc- 
tion by Fire-;-The Baptismal Font — Important Decision 
in Ohio. 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
The "Reconstructed" Mormon Church. 388 

CHAPTER XL. 

Polygamy and the Blood Atonement. 394 

The Twin Evils of Mormonism — Polygamy in Utah — De- 
nounced by the " Reconsti'ucted " — Originated by the 
Prophet — Proofs Adduced — Blood Atonement Defined by 
Young — Known in Missouri and Illinois — Smith and 
Rigdon Its Authors. 



CONTENTS. xiii 

CHAPTEE XLI. 
The Spalding Romance. - - 408 
Review of the Situation — Dr. Hurlbut and E. D. Howe — Their 
Book Mormonism Unveiled — Solomon Spalding's Manu- 
script Found — Efforts to Obtain It — Recent Statements 
Concerning It. 

CHAPTER XLII. 
Statements of the Spalding Fa:milt. - 417 
Mrs. Davison's Statement — Denied by the Mormons — Mrs. 
Dickinson's Publication in Scribner^s Magazine — J. E. 
Johnson in Deseret News — Disagreeing Statements. 

CHAPTER XLIII. 
The Spalding Witnesses. - - 431 
Statement of John Spalding — Of Martha Spalding — Of Henry- 
Lake — John ]Sr. Miller — Aaron Wright — Oliver Smith — 
Nahum Howard — Artemus Cunningham. 

CHAPTER XLIV. 
Lateb Testimony. - - 441 

Mr. Cooper in Cincinnati Gazette — Joseph Miller's Letter 
— Abner Jackson's Narrative — "Mere Supposition" vs. 
"God-Given Testimony" — Besume of Testimony — The 
Book's Proper Title — Mr. Patterson — Rev. J. Winter — 
Rigdon's Hand Manifest. 

CHAPTER XLY. 
After Fifty Years. - - 458 

A Strange Discovery — A Spalding Manuscript Found in Hon- 
olulu — A God-Send to the Mormons — False Impression — 
Not the Manuscript Found — Of No Historic Value — De- 
scription and Comments on MS. at Oberlin College — 
Eloquent Reference to Spalding's AYork. 

CHAPTER XLVI. 
The Nauvoo Charter. - - 463 

CHAPTER XLYII. 

Some of the City Ordinances. - 472 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 
Celebrated "Celestial Marriage" Revelation. 478 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

Miscellaneous and Anecdotal. - 489 

The Kinderhook Plates— Titles of the Twelve— The Prophet 

as a Linguist — Some Mormon Methods — The Prophet and 

Church as Land Speculators — A Story from Stenhouse — 

Bishop John D. Lee — The "Corrected" Holy Scriptures. 



3dv CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX. 

The Leaders in the Revolt at Nauvoo, - - 503 

Governor West and the Polygamists, - - - 518 
A Characteristic Document, ----- 528 

Mrs. Emma Smith's Letter, . - . . 537 

The Mormons or Latter-Day Saints, - - 539 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Joseph Smith, - 


. 




Frontispiece. 


Oliver Cowdery, - - - 




- 


- 


98 


David Whitmer, 


» 




- 


98 


Martin Harris, - - - 




■ 


•« 


98 


P.P.Pratt, - 


- 




■ • 


116 


The Temple at Nauvoo, - 




- 


- 


181 


Hyrum Smith, - 


- 




- 


189 


Major-General John C. Bennett, - 




- 


a 


224 


The Scene of Smith's Death, - 


- 




■ • 


284 


Brigham Young - - - 




- 


- 


304 


Baptismal Font, 


• 




- 


382 


Ruins of the Temple at Nauvoo, - 




- 


a 


384 


Fac-simile from the so-called " Book of Abraham," 


492 



The Prophet of Palmyra. 



CHAPTER I, 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Solomon Spalding — False Prophets in All Ages — Joseph 
Smith, the Founder of Mormonism-- Compared to 
Mahomet— His Character and Aims— Origin of Mor- 
monism — An Absorblnq Question. 

Poor, unfortunate, somewhat unbalanced, yet 
honest and well- meaning Solomon Spalding ! 
His name will go down to posterity as the inno- 
cent originator of one of the most stupendous and 
wicked frauds ever perpetrated upon the world. 
Had he lived to witness the result of his work — 
work in which he took so much delight and spent 
so many days of his life — ^his gray head would 
have been bowed down with sorrow. But he was 
kindly spared the infliction. He died in 1816, 
and the fraud perpetrated upon his work and his 
good name was not committed till some ten or 
twelve years after he had been laid peacefully in 
his grave. The story of his connection with the 
Mormon scheme will be fully told in future chap- 
ters of this work. 



2 THE PROPHET OP PALMYBA. 

Prophets have flourished ever since the world 
was peopled. But, unfortunately for the world, 
many of them have been false prophets ; and 
prophesying, instead of bemg a vehicle of God's 
will to man, has been used for base and selfish 
ends and purposes, and to impose on the credulous 
and unwary. People of every age have been prone 
to run after false prophets. Hence the boldest, 
most daring and unscrupulous among them — he 
who has put on the most sanctity and arrogated to 
himself the highest authority— has generally been 
the most successful. As a rule, their careers have 
been short and their influence limited. The claims 
and pretensions of a few, however, have wrought 
great evil upon the world, and added many dark 
and bloody pages to its history. One, and not the 
least of these, will be the subject of these pages. 
That such a career as was his, with such remark- 
able results following, could be run in this en- 
lightened Nineteenth Centur}^, and in a land where 
Christianity and Civilization have shed their benign 
rays, is a mystery which the writer prefers to leave 
his readers to solve. 

On the 27th of June, 1844, was killed by a mob 
at the jail in Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois, 
Joseph Smith, the founder of the sect of Latter- 
Day Saints, and who claimed to have been divinely 
commissioned as a "Prophet, Seer, andRevelator," 



INTJRODVCTORY, S 

Born in the State of Yermont, reared in Western 
New York, residing three or four years in Ohio, 
about as long in Missouri, and over five years in 
Illinois, he had adopted a policy which made him 
inimical to the people everywhere, and finally 
brought him to a violent and bloody death. 

Parallels to this man's remarkable career have 
been sought in history. It has been likened to 
that of Mahomet. When at Mecca, in Arabia, the 
great founder of Islamism began his eventful career, 
he was doubtless honest in his purposes, which 
were to reform and improve the idolatrous worship 
of his people. But he was an enthusiast and a 
fanatic. With an ardent temperament and a rest- 
less and uneasy spirit, he could not brook opposi- 
tion. His efforts met first with neglect, then ridi- 
cule and contumely, and finally with resistance and 
violence. Friends and neighbors turned to ene- 
mies, and their opposition increased till he was 
compelled to fly from his native city to save his 
life. The vindictive persecution and violence to 
which he was subjected, changed the character of 
the man, and henceforth revenge and ambition be- 
came his ruling passions. 

But his career, in whatever light it may be re- 
garded, was a most remarkable one. Living 
amongst the idolatries of the Pagan, Jewish, and 
Christian systems, in one of the darkest of the 



4 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

Dark Ages of the world, he built up a system, 
which, to say the least, was superior to, and an 
improvement upon, an}i;hing by which he was sur- 
rounded. His successes were unprecedented in 
the world's history. During his own lifetime and 
that of his faithful friend and co-worker, Abou- 
Bekir, his creed, through his zeal — aided by the 
sword and scimiter, potent agents in the work of 
propagandism in all ages — had become the recog- 
nized faith through all Arabia, and was fast under- 
mining all the other systems about him. 

The curious career of the Prophet of JNIormonism 
has sometimes been contrasted with that of this 
great leader. But the contrast affords but slight 
parallel. When "Joe Smith" — as the Mormon 
Prophet was always designated in his youth (a title 
which stuck to him through life) — began his career 
at Palmyra in the State of Xew York, his motives 
were not honest, nor was he prompted by either 
reveno^e or ambition. His untutored and feeble in- 
tellect had not yet grasped at anything beyond 
mere toying with mysterious things. It is evident 
that he had at first no higher purpose in view. He 
was one of those indolent and illiterate young men, 
too numerous in all communities, who hope to shun 
honest labor, and who have imbibed the pernicious 
doctrine embraced in the phrase : ' ' The world 
owes me a living." Any means that would enable 



JNTRODVCTORY, 5 

him to obtain that living he was ready to employ. 
Hence we find him at an early age, trying his skill 
at little tricks to impose on the credulity of his 
ignorant associates. As he grew in years, search- 
ing for lost treasure became one of his favorite 
employments ; for was it not better, he reasoned, 
to obtain the golden thousands from the nooks and 
crevices of the earth, where Captain Kidd and the 
pirates and robbers had secreted them, and live in 
ease and idleness, than to obtain a small com- 
petency by the slow and uncertain processes of 
honest labor? And thus he plodded on, till ac- 
cident opened a new career for him. A petty theft, 
by himself or one of his co-workers, placed the 
Spalding ' * Manuscript Found " in his hands ; and 
then it was that the idea of a new sect, a new creed, 
a new and deeper play upon popular ignorance 
and credulity, and consequent power, and place, 
and fortune, were gradually developed and boldly 
and persistently and most wickedly carried for- 
ward — aided by confederates as bad as himself and 
with similar purposes in view. 

No ; the character and aims of these two false 
prophets afibrd but slight parallel ; in their suc- 
cessful career, a stronger resemblance is to be 
traced. 

MoRMONiSM had its origin and incipient growth 
in Western New York, where it attracted little at- 



6 THE PBOPHET OF PAmiYBA. 

tention beyond the ridicule of sensible people and 
the gaping wonder of a few seekers after the new 
and the marvellous — and it sought fi-esh fields. In 
Xorthern Ohio it gained strength by contact with 
the world; and there, too, its leaders made the 
discoverv that the way to notoriety and success 
was to create opposition ; and an aggressive policy 
was boldly adopted, and aggressive tenets en- 
grafted into the creed. In Xorth Missouri it in- 
creased greatly in strength ; but in its violent con- 
tests with its neighbors and the authorities, it 
became dismembered and broken, and was finally 
violently expelled fi'om the State. Poor, dis- 
heartened, and scattered — its prophet and some 
other leaders in prison — all of its members who 
could muster courage and means made their way 
eastward across the State to Illinois, where their 
forlorn condition attracted the sympathy- and aid 
of all classes of people. Settling in the latter 
State, at Commerce, in Hancock county, in time 
the same aggressive policy was pursued ; and after 
eight years of arrogant pretension, active prose- 
lytism, and stupendous folly, it met the fate it had 
encountered in Missouri, together Avith the loss of 
its daring prophet and leader. Later, under an 
equally daring and more able successor, it sought 
isolation and a home among the nigged crags and 
mountains and fertile valleys of Utah — where it 



INTRODTCTOBY. 1 

has for more than a third of a century increased in 
an astonishing degree, and developed into what 
it now is, an ugly and troublesome excrescence on 
the body politic, and a disgrace to the nation and 
to civilization. 

A^Tiile the ' * Latter-Day Saints " remained in 
Ohio, Missouri, or Illinois, the *< Mormon Ques- 
tion " was only one of local or State concern. But 
since they have withdrawn to the wilderness, and 
there within the territory and under the jurisdiction 
and flag of the United States, have assumed an in- 
dependent position and arrayed themselves in open 
hostility to the government, the matter takes a 
new shape. From a State problem it has advanced 
to a National one, and one that is daily becoming 
of greater magnitude, now seriously agitating the 
minds of the best statesmen of our country. 

It bids fair to overshadow all other social ques- 
tions. It is therefore highly important and neces- 
sary that the reading public should be fully in- 
formed, not only as to what Mormonism now is, 
but made acquainted with the origin, history and 
development of this the most wicked and dangerous 
folly of the Nineteenth Century, and with the life, 
character, and purposes of its founders. Such is 
the task before us, and to which these efforts are 
directed. 

The term «« Mormonism" is a coinafje of the 



S THE PBOPHET OF PALMYEA. 

present century. It is derived from the name of 
one of the chief writers of the so-called Booh of 
Mormon (though why after Mormon, rather than 
Kephi, Moroni, Alma, Enos, or Lehi, it would be 
hard to tell) — a silly and little worthy, but in the 
eyes of its deluded believers, the most sacred of all 
books. It is less interesting and far feebler than 
the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Its chief in- 
gredients are ignorance and arrogance, and it 
abounds in blasphemy ; it is full of falsehood, in- 
justice toward man and impiety toward God. To 
accept the claims and adopt the teachings of its 
chief adherents, is to eschew holiness and good- 
ness, and to dethrone the Almighty. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTUBE. 9 



CHAPTER II. 

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTURE. 
Disagreeing Statements — Impossible Clatms — The Smith 

Fa^IILY — IGNORA.XCE AND Sl^PERSTITION — ThE PrOPHET'S 

Own Story — "History of Joseph Sahth" — The Angel 
Nephi — Plates Revealed— The Urevi and Thl^imim — 
Second, Third, and Fourth Visions — Hill of Cuiviorah 
— Stone Box — The Prophet's Marriage — " Persecu- 
tions" — After Four Years — Martin Harris and the 
Translation. 

In the matter of the early life of Joseph Smith 
there is great contrariety of statement. The testi- 
mony of the Smith family, and of his faithful 
believers, goes to show that he was a most exem- 
plary youth, truthful, without guile, and ever seek- 
ing for the highest religious truth. As this is the 
testimony of interested witnesses only, we are 
bound to reject it for that of his neighbors, who, 
with great unanimity, tell a far diiferent story-^ 
that he was indolent, ignorant, untruthful, and 
superstitious. 

This counter-testimony has been obtained from 
a great many sources — people in several sections of 
the country where he was best known, and some 
of whom, in high standing, are still living tore- 
affirm statements made long ago b}^ themselves and 



10 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

others, and who could have no reason for falsifying 
or traducing his character. Coupled with much of 
his conduct after he had reached years of mature 
manhood, it furnishes irresistible proof that his 
youth was such as would render it preposterous 
and impossible that he should have been selected 
through divine agency to carry a God-given reve- 
lation to mankind and lead in a great reformation. 
To adopt any other theory would require that we 
should accept entirely new ideas of God's provi- 
dence and of divine things. 

The Smith family to which he belonged was of 
Yankee origin ; Joseph, the elder, having removed 
from Vermont to Western New York when that 
country was new and sparsely settled. He is said 
to have been a soldier of the Revolution. Ignorance 
and superstition seem to have been traits in the 
family. The district in which they had resided in 
Vermont, had for several ^^ears been the home of 
an arrant pretender to supernatural things, living 
upon the credulit}^ of the people, and who had 
committed gross crimes under the plea of religious 
inspiration — crimes which he afterwards expiated 
in the State's prison.* Some of the practices of 
the Mormon Prophet in after years, in New York 
and elsewhere, show a remarkable resemblance to 
the doings of this Vermont pretender, leading to 
* Stephen Burrows. 



TirE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTURE. 11 

the conclusion that he must have been at least 
familiar with them. 

Mr. E. D. Plowe, in his valuable work, Mor- 
monism Unveiled (Painesville, Ohio, 1834), pre- 
sents the testimonials of eighty-one persons, 
neighbors and acquaintances of the Smith family, 
all attesting to their illiteracy and generally worth- 
less and disreputable character, especially that of 
the son "Joe," as he was called. Among the 
most damaging of these statements, perhaps, is that 
of Isaac Hale, of Harmony, Pa., whose daughter 
the would-be prophet married. These testimonials, 
it will be remembered, were obtained in 1833, 
only three years after the Booh of Mormon ap- 
peared, and after the Smiths had left Palmyra and 
Manchester, where most of these certifiers resided. 

The prophet's own story of his early life, and 
the manner in which he was called to the high 
position he claimed to occupy, is to be found in the 
third volume of the Times and /Seasons, the organ 
of the Mormon Church at Nauvoo, of which he was 
editor — page 706. It purported to have been pre- 
pared at the request of Hon. John Wentworth, 
editor of the Chicago Democrat. A few of the 
leading paragraphs were also contributed to, and 
are to be found in, a volume entitled. History of 
the Religious Denominations of the United States, 



12 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

published in Philadelphia. The more important 
portions are herewith given : 

JOSEPH smith's statement. 

**I was born in the town of Sharon, Windsor 
county, Vermont, on the 23d of December, 1805. 
When ten years old my parents removed to Pal- 
myra, N. Y., where we resided about four years, 
and from there we removed to the town of Man- 
chester, a distance of six miles. 

' ' My father was a farmer, and taught me the 
art of husbandry. When about fourteen years of 
age, I began to reflect upon the importance of being 
prepared for a future state, and upon inquiring the 
plan of salvation, I found there was a great clash 
in religious sentiment; if I went to one society 
they referred me to one plan, and another to an- 
other, each one pointing to his own particular 
creed as the summum honum of perfection. Con- 
sidering that all could not be right, and that God 
could not be the author of so much confusion, I 
determined to investigate the subject more fully, 
believing that if God had a church it would not be 
split up into factions, and that if He taught one 
society to worship one way, and administer in one 
set of ordinances. He would not teach another prin- 
ciples which were diametrically opposed. Believ- 
ing the word of God, I had confidence in the 
declaration of James : ' If any man lack wisdom, 
let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally 
and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.' 

*' I retired to a secret place in a grove, and began 
to call upon the Lord. While fervently engaged 
in supplication, my mind was taken away from the 
objects with which I was surrounded, and I was 
enrapt in a heavenly vision, and saw two glorious 
personages who exactly resembled each other in 
features and likeness, surrounded by a brilliant 



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTURE. 13 

light which eclipsed the sun at noon-day. They 
told me that all the religious denominations were 
believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of 
them were acknowledged of God as His Church 
and Kingdom. And I was expressly commanded 
' to go not after them,' at the same time receiving 
a promise that the fulness of the gospel should at 
some future time be made known to me. 

** On the evening of the 21st of September, a.d. 
1823, while I was praying unto God, and endeav- 
oring to exercise faith in the precious promises of 
Scripture, on a sudden a light like that of day, only 
of a far purer and more glorious appearance and 
brightness, burst into the room ; indeed, the first 
sight was as though the house was filled with con- 
suming fire. The appearance produced a shock 
that affected the whole body. In a moment a per- 
sonage stood before me, surrounded with a glory yet 
greater than that with which I was already sur- 
rounded. The messenger proclaimed himself to be 
an angel of God, sent to bring the joyful tidings 
that the covenant which God made with ancient 
Israel was at hand to be fulfilled ; that the prepara- 
tory work for the second coming of the Messiah 
was speedily to commence ; that the time was at 
hand for the gospel in all its fulness, to be preached 
in power unto all nations, that the people might be 
prepared for the millennial reign. 

*' I was informed that I was chosen to be an in- 
strument in the hands of God to bring about some 
of his purposes in this glorious dispensation. 

" I was informed, also, concerning the aboriginal 
inhabitants of this country, and shown who they 
were and from whence they came ; a brief sketch 
of their origin, progress, civilization, laws, govern- 
ments, of their righteousness and iniquity, and the 
blessings of God being finally withdrawn from them 
as ii people, was made known to me. X was also 



14 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

told where there was deposited some plates, on which 
was engraved an abridgment of the records of the 
ancient prophets that had existed on this continent. 
The angel appeared to me three times the same night, 
and unfolded the same things. After having receivedj 
many visits from the angel of God, unfolding the; 
majesty and glory of the events that should trans-' 
pire in the last days, om the morning of the 2 2d of 
September, a.d. 1827, the angel of the Lord deliv- 
ered the records into my hands. 

*' These records w^ere engraven on plates, which 
had the appearance of gold ; each plate was six inches 
wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as 
common tin. They were filled with engravings in 
Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume 
as the leaves of a book, with three rings running 
through the whole. The volume was something near 
six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. 
The characters in the unsealed part were small and 
beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited 
many marks of antiquity in its construction, and 
much skill in the art of engraving. With the 
records was found a curious instrument, w^hich the 
ancients called ' Urim and Thummim,' which con- 
sisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a 
bow fastened to a breast-plate. 

' ' Through the medium of the * Urim and Thum- 
mim ' I translated the records, by the gift and 
power of God. 

" In this important and interesting book, the his- 
tory of ancient America is unfolded, from its first 
settlement by a colony that came from the tower of 
Babel, at the confusion of languages, to the begin- 
ning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We 
are informed by these records that America in 
ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct 
races of people. The first were called Jaredites, 
and came directly from the tower of Babel. The 



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTURE. 15 

second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, 
about six hundred years before Christ. They were 
principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph. 
The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that 
the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded 
them in the inheritance of the country. The prin- 
cipal nation of the second race fell in battle toward 
the close of the fourth century. The remnant are 
the Indians that now inhabit this country. This 
book also tells us that our Saviour made his appear- 
ance upon this continent after his resurrection, that 
he planted the gospel here in all its fulness, and 
liches, and power, and blessing; that they had 
apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangel- 
ists ; the same order, the same priesthood, the 
same ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessing, as 
was enjoyed on the eastern continent ; that the 
people were cut off in consequence of their trans- 
gressions ; that the last of their prophets who 
existed among them was commanded to write an 
abridgment of their prophecies, history, etc., and 
to hide it up in the earth, and that it should come 
forth and be united with the Bible for the accom- 
plishment of the purposes of God in the last days. 
For a more particular account, I would refer to the 
Book of Mormon, which can he purchased at 
Nauvoo, or from any of our travelling elders'^ 

The account goes on to say that the Church was 

organized on the 6th day of April, 1830 ; that the 

work *' rolled forth with astonishing rapidity," and 

churches were soon formed in the States of New 

York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and 

Missouri ; that in the latter, large settlements were 

made, where they suffered divers persecutions and 

were finally, in 1839, driven out to find a home in 



16 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

Illinois. To the good character of the people of 
Elinois, ^nq have the prophet's own testimony in 
the following paragraph : 

'*In the situation before alluded to, we arrived 
in the State of Illinois in 1839, where we found a 
hospitable people and a friendly home ; a people 
who were willing to be governed by the principles 
of law and huiBanity. We have commenced to 
build a city called ^Auvoo, in Hancock county ; 
we number from six to eight thousand here, besides 
vast numbers in the country around, and in almost 
every county in the State. We have a city charter 
granted us, and a charter for a Legion, the troops 
of Tt'hich now number fifteen hundred. We have 
also a charter for a university, for an agricultural 
and manufacturing society, have our own laws and 
administrators, and possess all the privileges that 
other free and enlightened citizens enjoy. 

* ' ... It (the Gospel of Mormonism) has 
penetrated our cities, it has spread over our villages, 
and has caused thousands of our intelligent, noble, 
and patriotic citizens to obey its divine mandates, 
and be governed b}^ its sacred truths. It has also 
snread in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, 
. . . and in Germany, Palestine, New Hol- 
land, the East Indies, and other places, the stand- 
ard of truth has been erected." 

Exaggeration, in its earlier days, as now, was a 
marked characteristic of Mormonism. All the fore- 
going statements, except those relating to the char- 
ters and the possession of unusual laws and privi- 
leges, were grossly untrue at the time they were 
written. 

In corroboration of his claim to a divine calling, 



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE UIPOSTURE. 17 

we find in the Times and Seasons, the organ before 
mentioned, an extended ** History of Joseph 
Smith," written in the first person, and running 
through many issues of that journal. The earliest 
of these numbers is lost, the first one before us 
opening with an account of his first adventure with 
the angel. It is to be noted that, in all this account, 
he speaks of it as a " vision." 

** I have actually seen a vision, and ' who am I, 
that I can withstand God,' or why does the world 
think to make me deny what I have actually seen ? 
for I had seen a vision. 

'' . . . I continued to pursue my common 
avocations in life until the 21st of September, 1823, 
all the time sufiering severe persecution at the hands 
of all classes of men, both religious and irreligious, 
because I continued to aflSrm that I had seen a 
vision." 

And on that evening he retired to his bed in full 
confidence that another similar manifestation was 
to be vouchsafed to him. — Vol. iii., p. 749, Ttjnes 
and Seasons. 

And sure enough, the expected ** vision" came 
—in the form of a light, *' until the room was 
lighter than at noon-day" — and in that light a 
personage appeared and stood by his bedside ; he 
was unearthly white, as were his robes ; and his 
hands and Avrists, and feet and ankles, were naked, 
and he stood on nothing, <'for his feet did not 
touch the floor." 



18 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

'' He called me by name, and said unto me that 
he was a messenger sent from the presence of God 
to me, and that his name was Nephi.* That God 
had a work for me to do, and that my name should 
be had for good and evil, among all nations, kindreds 
and tongues." 

We can well believe that this vision was, at least, 
partly true ; for his name has been had for ' ' evil " 
among many nations. 

And then the angel Nephi went on to reveal to 
him the existence of the "golden plates," the 
"Urim and Thummim," and the "breastplates," 
and " silver bows," and that the possession and use 
of these was what constituted seers in olden times, 
and that God had prepared these for his use. Then 
Nephi read to him long chapters from Scripture : 
third chapter of Malachi, the fouilh with variations, 
the eleventh of Isaiah, the third of Acts, the second 
of Joel, and many others "too numerous to men- 
tion." But — ^he so charged him — when these golden 
plates were obtained, and the breastplate, and the 
Urim and Thummim, he was not to show them to 
any person on pain of utter destruction. And 
while the angel was still talking, his vision caused 
him to behold the exact spot where these wonderful 
things were deposited — in " Cumorah hill," two 
miles away. The angel appeared to him twice more 



♦ For the character of this Messenger from God, see other 

pages of this history. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTUEE. 19 

that night, relating " the very same things which 
he had done at the first visit, without the least 
variation," and adding more concerning the judg- 
ments to come upon this generation. And this not 
being enough, on the next day, in the field, he had 
another vision in which the angel appeared as be- 
fore, and repeated the whole story. — Times and 
Seasons, vol. iii., 753. 

What may have been the acquirements of Nephi 
when in the flesh, according to the Book of 
Mormon, he certainly exhibited great volubility 
as an angel, in the presence of our vision-seeing 
prophet ; for here we find him reading five chap- 
ters from Scripture, '<and many others," three 
times in one night, besides much other talk, "with- 
out the least variation." 

The next thing to be done was to verify this 

four-fold vision. How this was done, we are thus 

informed : 

<* I left the field, and went to the place where the 
messenger had told me the- plates were deposited ; 
and owing to the distinctness of the vision which I 
had had concerning it, I knew the place the instant 
I arrived there. Convenient to the village of Man- 
chester, Ontario County, New York, stands a hill 
of considerable size, and the most elevated of any 
in the neighborhood ; on the west side of this hill 
not far from the top, under a stone of considerable 
size, lay the plates deposited in a stone box ; this 
stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the. 
upper side, and thinner toA^ards the edges, so that 



20 THE PROPHET OF PALMYPA. 

the middle part of it was visible above the ground, 
but the edge all around was covered with earth. 
Having removed the earth and obtained a lever, 
which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and 
with a little exertion raised it up, I looked in, and 
there, indeed, did I behold the plates, the Urim 
and Thummim and the breastplate, as stated by 
the messenger. The box in which they lay was 
foimed by laying stones together in some kind of 
cement ; in the bottom of the box were laid two 
stones, crossways of the box, and on these stones 
lay the plates and the other things with them. I 
made an attempt to take them out, but was forbid- 
den by the messenger, and was again informed that 
the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived, 
neither would it until four years from that time ; 
but he told me that I should come to that place 
precisely in one year from that time, and that he 
would there meet with me, and that I should con- 
tinue to do so, until the time should come for ob- 
taining the plates. Accordingly, as I had been 
commanded, I went at the end of each year, and at 
each time I found the same messenger there, and 
received instruction and intelligence from him at 
each of our interviews, respecting what the Lord 
was D;oing to do, and how and in what manner His 
Kino'dom'was to be conducted in the last days." 

And the long four years rolled on; long and 

tedious they must have seemed to one who had so 

great and important a commission placed upon him. 

Ignorant and ill-prepared, as he confessedly was 

for such a work, he made no special efibrt to 

qualify himself, but continued to perform his usual 

daily labors, sometimes about home and sometimes 

abroad ; part of the time (in the month of October, 



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTURE. 21 

1825), with an old gentleman named " Stoal," who 

lived in Chenango County, bat was searching for a 

Spanish silver mine at Harmony, in Susquehanna 

County, Pennsylvania. With this gentleman he 

worked for a month, and — 

' ' Hence arose the very prevalent story of my 
having been a money-digger." 

How digging for a Spanish silver mine on the 
Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania, would cause 
excavations all about Palmyra and Manchester, in 
New York, is left unexplained. We have it from 
present residents of Palmyra, made to the writer 
of these pages recently, that, though mostly oblit- 
erated by time, some of these excavations are still 
to be seen. 

Within this period of four years, waiting, he was 
also married to Miss Emma Hale, daughter of 
Isaac Hale, of Harmony, with whom he boarded 
while at work for Mr. Stowell. This marriage took 
place clandestinely, being much opposed by Mr. 
Hale, who believed his daughter w^as joining her 
fortunes with a worthless and undeservino^ vouns^ 
man. 

At length the auspicious 27th of September, 
1827, arrived, and our vision-seer went to the al- 
ready opened stone box, where he met the messen- 
ger, as promised, and received the ancient relics at 
his hands. He was admonished that he would be 



22 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

held responsible for them, that if he let them go in 
any way through neglect, he would be cut off — and 
if at any time he (the messenger) should call for 
them, they must be delivered up. 

During all the years previous to his receiving 
the plates, so the story runs, he had been the sub- 
ject of violent and cruel persecution, because of his 
declaration and continued protestation that he 
" had seen a vision." And now, that the promised 
precious relics were in his possession, this perse- 
cution increased with redoubled force. And this 
explains the conduct of the angel : 

" I soon found out the reason why I received such 
strict charges to keep them safe, and why it was 
that the messenger had said that when I had done 
what was required at my hand, he would call for 
them ; for no sooner was it known that I had them 
than the most strenuous exertions were used to get 
them from me; every stratagem that could be in- 
vented was resorted to for that purpose ; the per- 
secution became more bitter and severe than before, 
and multitudes were on the alert continually to get 
them from me if possible ; but by the wisdom of 
God they remained safe hi my hands, until I had 
accomplished by them what was required at my 
hand, when, according to arrangements, the mes- 
senger called for them, I delivered them up to him, 
and he has them in his charge until this day, being 
the second da}^ of May, one thousand eight hundred 
and thirty-eight." 

Martin Harris, of Palmyra, who is declared to be 
** a gentleman and a farmer of respectability," be- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IMPOSTURE. 23 

came interested in the matter, and to him Smith 
confided some of the characters which he had drawn 
from the plates. Harris took them to the city of 
New York for the purpose of having them tested 
by literary men. The following is given by Smith 
as Harris's statement on his return : 

'* I went to the city of New^ York (said Harris) 
and presented the characters which had been trans- 
lated, with the translation thereof, to Professor 
Anthony^ a gentleman celebrated for his literary 
attainments ; Professor Anthony stated that the 
translation w^as correct, more so than any he had 
before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then 
showed him those which were not yet translated, 
and he said they were Egyptian, Chaldeac, Assyr- 
iac, and Arahac^ and he said that they were the 
true characters. He gave me a certificate certifying 
to the people of Palmyra that they were true char- 
acters, and that the translation of such of them as 
had been translated, was also correct. I took the 
certificate and put it into my pocket, and was just 
leaving the house, when Mr. Anthony called me 
back, and asked me how the young man found out 
that there were gold plates in the place where he 
found them. I answered that an angel of God had 
revealed it unto him. 

** He then said to me, let me see that certificate. 
I accordingly took it out of my pocket and gave it 
to him, when he took it and tore it to pieces, say- 
ing that there was no such thing now as ministering 
of angels, and that if I would bring the plates to 
him, he would translate them. I informed him that 
part of the plates were sealed, and that I was for- 
bidden to bring them, ho replied, * I cannot read a 
sealed book.' I left him and went to Dr. Mitchell, 



2 1 THE PBOPBET OF PALMYRA. 

who sanctioned what Professor Anthony had said 
respecting both the characters and the translation." 

It is evident that the foregoing is a sheer fabri- 
cation, concocted by either Harris or the prophet, 
most probably the latter. Professor Anthon's 
statement, made some time afterwards, shows in 
what light he regarded the story told him by 
Harris. 

It is a curious fact, and furnishes another evi- 
dence of the true character of Mormonism, that four 
years before this statement was printed in Xauvoo, 
this same Martin Harris— the " gentleman and 
farmer of respectability " — was publicly denounced 
by the prophet through his newspaper organ, as 
**a liar and swindler." — See Meiers' Journal, 
August, 1838. 



\ 



AS TOLD BY OTHEBS. 25 



CHAPTER III, 



AS TOLD BY OTHEKS, 



Da^td Whitmee, One of the Original Eleven Witnesses — 
His Statement in His Old Age— Interviewed by the 
Kansas City Journal. 

As will be shown, David Wliitmer, Oliver Cow- 
dery, and Martin Harris, were the three first certi- 
fiers to the miraculous character and divine au- 
thenticity of the Booh of Mormon, and the most 
zealous fanatics in bringing it before the world. 
Yet, strange to say, every one of them in future 
years, and during the prophet's lifetime, were 
either denounced by him or seceded from the sect 
of which he was the head. 

Mr. Whitmer, after following the fortunes of his 
chief into Ohio, and thence to Northwest Missouri, 
finally left the sect for good, for reasons which will 
herein be shown. He died only a few years since 
at Richmond, Ray County, Missouri, at an ad- 
vanced age. A year or two previous to his death 
he was interviewed by an attacM of the Kansas 
City Journal, on the subject of Mormonism and 
his previous connection with it, a lengthy report 
of which is published in that paper. It is well 



26 THE PBOPHET OF FALMYBA. 

written and interesting throughout ; but we can 
only make room for a condensed sjnopsis, quoting 
only certain portions entire. Mr. AYhitmers state- 
ments, made in his serene old age, and many 3'^ears 
after having left the church, are important as to 
his admissions regarding the wickedness and evil 
desio^ns of the man whom he had so lons^ reo-arded 
as the vicegerent of the Almighty. 

Eight other witnesses had followed the three in 
certifying to the Booh of Mormon — making eleven 
in all — and the Jbz«^?za? introduces Mr. Whitmer 
as "the last of the eleven" — all the others, with 
Smith and Eigdon, the principals, having joreceded 
him to their final reckoning. 

Mr. Whitmer stated that he was born in Penn- 
sylvania, but at an early age removed with his 
father's family to Western New York. In Palmyra 
he became acquainted with Oliver Cowderj^, and 
there first heard of Mormonism, in 1828. Cowdery 
seems to have led all the Whitmers into Mormon- 
ism, and afterwards married into the family. 

The manner of the translation of the plates, as 
told b}^ Whitmer, is so interesting that it is given 
here in his own words. 

Said he : 

" He had two small stones of a chocolate color, 
nearh^ egg-shaped and perfectly smooth, but not 
transparent, called interpreters, which were given 



AS TOLD BY THE US. 27' 

I 

him with the plates. He did not use the plates in 
the translation, but would hold the interpreters to 
his eyes and cover his face with a hat, excluding 
all light, and before his eyes would appear what 
seemed to be parchment, on wdiich would appear 
the characters of the plates in a line at the 
top, and immediately below would appear the 
translation in English, which Smith would read to 
his scribe, who wrote it down exactly as it fell 
from his lips. The scribe would then read the 
sentence written, and if any mistake had been made 
the characters would remain visible to Smith until 
corrected, when they faded from sight to be re- 
placed by another line. The translation at my 
father's occupied about one month, that is from 
June 1 to July 1, 1829." 

' ' Were the plates under the immediate control 
of Smith all the time?" 

*'Xo, they were not. I will explain how that 
was. When Joseph first received the plates he 
translated 116 pages of the book of * Lehi,' with 
Martin Harris as scribe. When this had been 
completed, they rested for a time, and Harris 
wanted to take the manuscript home with him to 
show to his family and friends. To this Joseph 
demurred, but finally asked the Lord if Harris 
might be allowed to take it. The answer was ' !N^o.' 
Harris teased Joseph for a long time, and finall}^ 
persuaded him to ask the Lord a second time, 
pledging himself to be responsible for its safe 
keeping. To this second inquiry the Lord told 
Joseph Harris might take the manuscript, which 
he did, showing it to a great many people, but 
throuo'h some carelessness allowed it to be stolen 
from him. This incurred the Lord's displeasure, 
and he sent an angel to Joseph, demanding the 
plates, and until Joseph had thoroughly repented 
of his transgressions would not allow him to have 



28 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

the use of them again. When Joseph was again 
allowed to resume the translation, the plates were 
taken care of by a messenger of God, and when 
Joseph wanted to see the plates this messenger was 
always at hand. The 116 pages of the book of 
'Lehi,' which were stolen, were never recovered, 
nor would the Lord permit Joseph to make a sec- 
ond translation of it." 

Continuing the interview, Mr. Whitmer is asked : 

« « When did you see the plates ? " 

' ' It was in the latter part of June, 1829 . Joseph, 
Oliver Cowdery and myself were together, and the 
angel showed them to us. We not only saw the 
plates of the Booh of Mormon, but he also showed 
us the brass plates of the book of Ether and many 
others. They were shown to us in this way. Joseph 
and Oliver and I were sitting on a log when we 
were overshadowed by a light more glorious than 
that of the sun. In the midst of this light, but a 
few feet from us, appeared a table, upon which 
were many golden plates, also the sword of 
Laban and the directors. I saw them as plain as 
I see you now, and distinctly heard the voice of 
the Lord declaiming that the records of the plates 
of the Booh of Mormon were translated by the gift 
and the power of God." 

' ' Who else saw the plates at this time ? " 

*'No one. Martin Harris, the other witness, 
saw them the same day, and the eight witnesses. 
Christian Whitmer, Hiram Page, Jacob Whitmer, 
Joseph Smith, Sr., Peter Whitmer, Jr., Hyram 
Smith, Jno. AMiitmer, and Samuel H. Smith, saw 
them next day." 

'' Did you see the angel?" 

*'Yes; he stood before us. Our testimony as 
recorded in the Book of Mormon is absolutely true, 
just as it is written there." 



AS TOLD Br OTHERS. 29 

« ' Can you describe the plates ? " 

" Tliey appeared to be of gold, about six by 
nine inches in size, about as thick as parchment, a 
great many in number, and bound together like the 
leaves of a book by massive rings passing through 
the back edges. The engraving upon them was 
very plain and of very curious appearance. Smith 
made facsimiles of some of the plates, and sent 
them by Martin Harris to Professors Anson and 
Mitchell, of New York City, for examination. They 
pronounced the characters reformed Egyptian, but 
were unable to read them." 

As before stated, Mr. Whitmer continued with 

his chief and their people in their several attempts 

at settlement in Missouri, and it was while there 

that the events occurred which separated him from 

the leaders. This personal history we prefer to 

give in his own words — as illustrating a peculiar 

phase of human character : 

''In 1835 W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer, 
accompanied by a large number of our people, went 
to Far West, Caldwell County, and established a 
church. They lived there, and multiplied very 
rapidly until 1838, when Elders Joseph Smith and 
Sidney Eigdon came out from Ohio and were dis- 
satisfied with the church, and gave new laws, 
revelations, etc. The leaders of the Far West 
church refused to conform to the new laws of Smith 
and Eigdon, and they issued a decree organizing 
what was termed the 'Danites, or Destroying 
Angels,' who were bound by the most fearful oaths 
to obey the commandments of the leaders of the 
church. The Danites consisted only of those 
selected by Smith and Eigdon. They threatened 
myself, John Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and Lyman 



30 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

Joliiisou with the vengeance of the Danites unless 
Tve took the same oath, but we refused, and fled 
for our lives to CLay Count}^ and since that time 
I have had nothing to do with the so-called * Lat- 
ter-Day Saints ' church, but I still hold to the truth 
of the original Church of Christ, as organized in 
Xew York"; During the fall of 1838 the church of 
Far ^Vest became very violent towards the citizens 
of Caldwell County, which terminated in an up- 
rising similar to that in Jackson County, and they 
were driven from the State. Smith and Rigdon 
were arrested and kept prisoners for some time, 
but finally escaped and went to Kauvoo, Illinois, 
followed by the saints from Far West, and estab- 
lished a church and built a fine temple. They re- 
mained in Nauvoo until 1844, when they became 
very corrupt, upheld polygamy, established an en- 
dowment house, etc., which occasioned an uprising 
of the people, and Joseph Smith and his brother 
Hyrum and John Tajdor, the present head of the 
church in Salt Lake, were arretted and cast into 
prison, and the two Smiths afterwards shot and 
Ivilled through the windows of the jail. The tem- 
ple was destroyed and the church scattered, a por- 
tion going to Salt Lake under the leadership of 
Brigham Young and John Taylor, where they have 
remained ever since, practicing the vile sj^stem of 
polygamy and spiritual wifeism. 

" I belong to the original church, organized in 
1829, and have never associated myself with any 
other, and never upheld the reorganization or 
chano^e of name to 'Latter-Day Saints,' at Kirt- 
land,"Ohio." 

The original manuscript of the Booh oj- 3Tormon 

is thus referred to by ]Mr. Whitmer : 

(He produced about five hundred pages of manu 
script, yellow with age, of large, old-fashioned, 



AS TOLD BY OTHEBS. 31 

unruled foolscap paper, closely written upon both 
sides Avith ink, and fastened together in sections 
with yarn strings. It very plainly showed that it 
had been through the hands of the printer, the 
'take 'marks being still upon it.) ''This," con- 
tinued he, " was kept by Oliver Cowdery, and 
when he came to die he placed them in my care, 
charghig me to preserve them so long as I lived. 
When I die I Avill leave them to my nephew, 
David Whitmer, my namesake. J. F. Smith and 
Orson Pratt, of Salt Lake City, w^ere here three 
years ago, and offered me a fabulous price for them, 
but I would not part with them- for all the money 
in the universe." 

"Are you not afraid they will be destroyed or 
stolen?" 

" N'o, the Lord will take care of his own. When 
this house was destroyed by the cyclone three 
years ago to-day (June 1, 1878), nothing in the 
room where this manuscript was kept was harmed. 
Everything else was completely destroyed." 

It is difficult to see wherein such value is at- 
tached to this relic, when it is remembered that it 
is merely the manuscript in Oliver Co wderj^'s hand- 
writing, made while the prophet was peeping at 
the little stones in his hat, and pretending to 
transhite from the " Eeformed Egyptian." The 
compositor who set up the type for the Booh of 
Mormon, in the office of the Wayne Sentinel, at 
Palmyra, retains the proof-sheets of that grand 
work, to which he, also, attaches much value. 
They are relics, to be sure ; but relics of a miserable, 
•wicked, and blasphemous fraud, which should have 



32 THE PBOFSET OF PAL3IYBA. 

brought the blush of shame to the faces^of all its 
originators and abettors. 

Since this interview, Mr. Whitmer has died — his 
friends say, a full believer in the faith in which he 
had so long lived, and cherishing as a precious 
jewel the manuscript copy of the Book of Mormon, 
left in his hands by his brother-in-law, Oliver 
Cowdery. A believer in the story of Mormonism, 
he refused, ever since his affront fifty years ago, 
to hold any intercourse with its founder. 

These statements of Mr. Whitmer are valuable 
as showing how easily a man ma}^ be deluded into 
a belief of supernatural things. Some men's minds 
are so constituted as to accept anything of a mar- 
vellous nature, rather than plain, simple truth. 
They are more valuable still, as establishing 
the oft-denied charges of the existence of an or- 
ganized ' ' Danite Band " — organized for the purpose, 
as Mr. Whitmer stated, of working murder and 
destruction upon enemies and apostates. No rec- 
ognized leader in the church has heretofore ever 
been found, but who would deny the existence of 
any such organization for any such purpose. And 
yet here is an adherent and believer in the story, 
and co-worker through all the earlier years, and 
who came near becoming a victim of its author's 
vengeance — who certifies to its truth, and charges 
that Smith and Eiodon were the oro^anizers and 



AS TOLD BY OTHERS. 33 

directors of the band. Mr. Whitmer also gives 
credence to and affirms the charges so long made, 
and so persistently denied, of the practice of polyg- 
amy by the prophet and his leaders at ISTauvoo. 

Was not this aged and venerable man, standing 
on the verge of the grave, a valuable witness to 
the truth and divine origin of the story ? 



34 THE FBOPHET OF FALMYBA. 

OHAPTEE IV. 

AS TOLD BY OTHEES. — Continued. 
A Highly Interesting Letter from Hon. S. S. Harding, 

EX-GOITERNOR OF UTAH TERRITORY — HiS BOYHOOD AC- 
QUAINTANCE WITH THE Smith Family. 

Knowing that ex-Governor Harding, later a 
judge in Indiana, had been in his early life a 
resident of Palmyra, N. Y., and acquainted with the 
Smith family and the other originators of the Booh 
of Mormon, we addressed him on the subject, and 
received the following lengthy and interesting reply. 

At the date of this letter — February, 1882 — and 
several years later, Judge Harding was residing in 
Indiana, an octogenarian in age and feeble health, 
but with a remarkable memory of the events of his 
long and distinguished life. His recollection and 
statements concerning the ignorant and superstitious 
character of young Smith and his father's family, 
and most of the early adherents of Mormonism, are 
strongly corroborative of those made by all the 
citizens of Palmyra from 1830 down to the present 
time. Human testimony could scarcely be made 
stronger or more convincing. 

*' Milan, Ind., Feb., 1882. 

*'Deae Sir: — Yours of 9th January duly re- 
ceived, and I send you this reply. The incidents 



AS TOLD BY OTHEBS. 35 

I am about to relate would not be worth repeating 
only as illustrative of the wild fanaticism, super- 
stition, and credulity of persons upon whose ve- 
racity mainly depends the authenticit}^ of the Booh 
of Mormon. That such a book, replete with self- 
evident plagiarisms and humbuggery, that sink it 
below the dignity of criticism, should find tens 
of thousands of persons of ordinary intelligence 
throughout Christendom, who have accepted it as a 
Revelation from God to man, is indeed a moral 
phenomenon unparalleled in the nineteenth century. 
In view of these things it is not strange that some 
daring iconoclast should go forth with his merciless 
sledo'e, breakino' in frao-ments the shrines and idols 
that for thousands of years have struck with rever- 
ential awe the hearts of untold millions of men, and 
leading captive the human will. 

" In the summer of 1829, I resolved to return to 
the place of my nativity, in the vicinity of Palmyra, 
N. Y. It was from this place that my father had 
emigrated in the spring of 1820, with his large 
family, to the newly admitted State of Indiana. 
This was before the days of railroads, and I took 
stage from Cincinnati for Cleveland, from Cleve- 
land down the lake shore for Bufialo, where I 
saw, for the first time, the great canal, only re- 
cently completed. On this I took passage for 
Palmyra. 

* ' In these nine years of transition from boyhood 
to manhood, most striking changes had taken place. 
My old-time playmates were no longer little boys 
and girls, but grown-up men and women ; some of 
whom had taken their positions in society as hus- 
bands and wives, fathers and mothers. Others had 
gone down to early graves that had 

' Hidden from the living 
The full-blown promise of the life that was.' 



36 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

" When I left my home in the West, I had nei^er 
heard of Mormonism, by that name. When I was 
a student at Brookyille, in the fall of 1827, the 
Brookville Enquirer was laid upon my table, when 
my eye fell upon a paragraph, credited to some 
Eastern paper, of the finding of a book of metallic 
plates, called the ' Golden Bible.' It was found 
by a 3^oung man by the name of Joe Smith, who 
had spent his time for several years in telling for- 
tunes and digging for hidden treasures, and espe- 
cially for pots and iron chests of money, supposed 
to have been buried by Captain Kidd. This para- 
graph interested me more at the time from the fact 
that all this had happened near the village of Pal- 
myra, X. Y. I had at the time no certain recol- 
lection as to who this ' Joe Smith ' was ; but re- 
membered having seen a long-legged, tow-headed 
boy of that name, who was generally fishing in the 
mill-pond at Durfee's grist-mill, on Mud Creek, 
when my elder brother and I went to mill. This 
boy was about three years older than myself, and 
it turned out that he was the veritable finder of the 
' Golden Bible.' 

" Of course the paragraph in the Enquirer passed 
without further notice at the time, and the whole 
subject was forgotten, until I found myself in the 
very neighborhood where the thing had happened. 
At that time the Book of Mormon had not been 
printed, and no Mormon church had been organized. 
I do not believe that such a thing as the latter had 
ever been seriously contemplated, and that the 
publication of the Book of Mormon had for its ob- 
ject only the making of mone}^, by publishing and 
putting on sale a book that could be readily sold as 
a curiosity at a high profit. ]N"evertheless, there 
was something so unusual in the aflfair, that it ex- 
cited a good deal of curiosit}^ and comment. The 
fact that such a man as Martin Harris should mort- 



AS TOLD BY OTHEBS. 37 

gage his farm for a large sum, to secure the pub- 
lisher for printing the book, sliould abandon the 
cultivation of one of the best farms in the neio;h- 
borhood, and change all his habits of life from in- 
dustry to indolence and general shiftlessness, was 
truly phenomenal. He, at the same time, was the 
only man among all the primitive Mormons who 
was responsible in a pecuniary sense for a single 
dollar. Nevertheless, he had become absolutely 
infatuated, and believed that an immense fortune 
could be made out of the enterprise. The mis- 
fortune that attended Harris from that day did not 
consist in the loss of money merely, and the gen- 
eral breaking up of his business as a farmer ; but 
the blight and ruin fell upon all his domestic rela- 
tions — causing his separation from his wife and 
family forever. In early life he had been brought 
up a Quaker, then took to Methodism as more con- 
genial to his nature. He was noted as one who 
could quote more Scripture than any man in the 
neio^hborhood ; and as a o-eneral thins^ could o^ive 
the chapter and verse where some important pas- 
sage could be found. If one passage more than 
another seemed to be in his mind, it was this : 
' God has chosen the weak things of this world to 
confound the wise.' His eccentricities and idio- 
syncrasies had been charitably passed over by all 
who knew him, until his separation from his Avife 
and family, when he was looked upon as utterly 
infatuated and crazy. I had been acquainted with 
this man when a little boy, until my father emi- 
grated from that neighborhood in 1820. He was 
intimately acquainted with my father's family, and 
on several occasions had visited our house, in com- 
pany with Mrs. Harris. None in all that neigh- 
borhood were more promising in their future pros- 
pects than they. 



38 THE FROFHEl OF FALJITHA. 

'*UpoLi my return to Palmyra, and learning that 
Martin Harris was the only man of any account, as 
we say in the TTest, among all of his near as- 
sociates, it was but natural that I should seek an 
early interview with him. I found him at the 
printing office of the Wcii/ne jSenfi'neJ in Palmyra, 
where the BooJc of Jlormon was being printed. 
He had heard several days before of my arrival in 
the neighborhood, and expressed great pleasure at 
seeing me. A moment or two after, I was intro- 
duced to Oliver Cowdery, Josej^h Smith, Sen., 
and then to the young ' Prophet ' himself. 

' ' Here was a most remarkable quaitette of per- 
sons. I soon learned that at least three of them 
were in daily attendance at the printing-office, 
and that they came and went as regularly as the 
rising and setting of the sun. I have the authority 
of Maitin Harris himself, who stated that some one 
hundred and tifty pages, more or less, of the origi- 
nal manuscript of the Bool: of Mormon had been 
stolen, lost, or destroyed, by some evil-minded 
person, and that the angel of the Lord had ap- 
peared to young Joseph and informed him that 
the devil had appeared in the form of a man or 
woman, and had possessed himself of the sacred 
MS. ; and Joseph had been commanded by the 
angel to thencefoi-th always have at least three 
witnesses to watch over it when in the hands of 
the printers. This was the reason given me at ?he 
time by Harris, why at least three persons should 
bring the MS. to the office immediately after sun- 
rise, and take it away before sunset in the evening. 

"After my introduction to Cowdery and the 
Smiths, I entered into conversation with them — 
especially with Cowdery and the father of the 
prophet. But young Joe was hard to be ap- 
proached. He was very taciturn, and sat most of 
the time as silent as a Sphynx, seeming to have no 



AS TOLD BY OTHEBS. 39 

recollection of ever having seen nie Avhen fishing in 
Diirfee's mill-pond. This young man was by no 
means of an ordinary type. He had hardly ever 
been known to laugh in his childhood ; and would 
never work or labor like other boys ; and was 
noted as never having had a fight or quarrel with 
any other person. But notwithstanding this last 
redeeming trait, he was hard on birds' nests, and 
in telling what had happened would exaggerate to 
such an extent, that it was a common saying in the 
neis^hborhood : ' That is as bio- a lie as youns: Joe 
ever told.' 

<'He was about six feet high, what might be 
termed long-legged, and with big feet. His hair had 
turned from tow-color to light auburn, large eyes 
of a bluish gray, a prominent nose, and a mouth 
that of itself Avas a study. His face seemed almost 
colorless, and with little or no beard. 

*' Indeed (in the language of Martin Harris): 
' What change a few years w^ill make in every- 
thing ! ' And what a demonstration of this truth 
was afforded in the life and career of the man be- 
fore me. At that time his weight was Jxbout one 
hundred and fifty pounds, he had not a dollar in 
the world, and his character was such that credit 
was impossible. Let the mind pass over the career 
of this man to the date of his marriage with Emma 
Hale ; his banking and temple-building at Kirtland ; 
his flight as a fugitive from that place to Inde- 
pendence and Far West, Missouri ; his forcible 
expulsion from that State to Nauvoo ; the spring- 
ing up of a city of 20,000 people as if by magic; 
and where, beside his divine appointment as 
'^ Prophet, Seer, and Kevelator," he became Lieut. - 
General of a Legion that would make a respectable 
standing army, mounted on a blooded charger in 
all the military trappings, that filled with awe the 
thousands of his followers, and even the outside 



40 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYHA. 

Gentiles. He had now reached the zenith of his 
glory ; and fifteen years from the time I met him 
at the printing-office, he had become a millionaire, 
notwithstanding his harem of numerous spiritual 
wives and concubines. 

' ' In the neighborhood of Palmyra there lived 
another prophet, older and wiser than the Mormon 
prophet. This was old George Crane, who had 
been born and brought up a Quaker. On one oc- 
casion Smith and Cowdery had gone to the house 
of George, who had manifested some interest in 
the pretended translation. It was in the evening, 
and when several chapters had been read, Mr. 
Crane, who had been an attentive listener, in his 
straightforward, Quaker soberness said: 'Joseph, 
thy book is blasphemous ; and I counsel thee to 
mend thy ways, or thee will come to some bad 
end.' George Crane lived to see the fulfilment of 
that prophecy, when this greatest of all modern 
deceivers fell out of the back window of the Car- 
thage jail riddled with bullets. 

" I had arrived at the printing-office about nine in 
the morning, and after my interview with Harris, 
and introduction, as aforesaid, I spent an hour or 
two with E. B. Grandin and Pomeroy Tucker, 
proprietor and foreman of the Sentinel. From 
these gentlemen I learned many particulars that 
were new to me. I expressed a desire to read the 
manuscript then in process of being printed ; but 
was informed by them that that was hardly possible, 
inasmuch as a few sheets only at a time were used 
as copy in the hands of the printers ; and that 
probably Cowdery and Smith would have no ob- 
jection to reading it tome, if I would give them 
an opportunity without interfering with their duties 
at the office. 

"It was now noon, and I went home with my 
cousin (Mr. Tucker) to dinner. On returning to 



AS TOLD BY OTHEBS. 41 

the office, I found Harris, Cowdery, and the Smiths 
had remained, substituting a lunch for a regular 
dinner. My intimacy with them was renewed, and 
Harris talked incessantly to me on the subject of 
dreams, and the fearful omens and signs he had 
seen in the heavens. Of course I became greatly 
interested, and manifested a desire to hear the 
miraculous MS. read ; and it was agreed that I 
should go out with them to the house of the elder 
Smith, and remain over night. In the mean time, 
I remarked that but one at a time left the printing 
office, even for a short period. 

' < The sun had now o-ot down to the roofs of the 
houses, and the typos had laid by their work. 
Each page of the MS. that had been used as 
copy was delivered to Cowdery, and we prepared to 
return to Smith's. We arrived at our destination 
a few minutes before sunset. The Smith residence 
consisted of a log house, not exactly a cabin. Upon 
our arrival, I was ushered into the best room in 
company with the others. In a few moments I 
was left alone, my companions having gone out on 
private business. An interview with the family 
was being held by them in the other part of the 
house. It was not long before they returned, ac- 
companied by Lucy Smith, the prophet's mother. 
She came close to me, and taking me by the hand, 
said : 

*' * I've seed you before. You are the same young 
man that had on the nice clothes, that I seed in my 
dream. You had on this nice ruffled shirt, with 
the same gold breast-pin in it that you have now. 
Yes, jest ezactly sich a one as this ! ' — suiting the 
action to the word, taking hold of the ruffle, and 
scrutinizing the pin closely. It was not long till 
she left the room, and I, following to the door, 
saw two stout, bare-footed girls, each with a tin 
bucket of red raspberries. Soon after, the old 



4U THE PBOFHET OF PALMYBA. 

man announced that supper was ready. We went 
into the other part of the house, where supper was 
waiting, consisting of brown bread, milk, and 
abundance of fine raspberries before mentioned. 
There was no lack of these, and if an^'left the table 
without a really good supper, it was not the fault 
of the hostess. She, good soul — full sister to all her 
sex — ^began to make excuses, saying : 

'' * If I had only known what a nice visitor I was 
goin' to have, I would have put on the table flour 
bread, and not ryn' Injun.' 

' ' I remarked that it needed no excuses ; that the 
supper was good enough for a king, and that the 
berries on the table were better than could be bought 
in any city in America. Beside being true, this had 
the effect of quieting the feelings of the old lady. 

' * It was now time to begin the reading of the 
manuscript, and we retired to the room we had oc- 
cupied. This was before the days of lucifer 
matches, and there being no fire, it took some time 
before a light could be brought into the room. 
This was done by our good hostess, who set upon 
the table a tin candlestick with a tallow dip in it, 
remarking : ' This is the onl}^ candle I can find in 
the house ; I thought I had two, but mabby the 
rats has eat it up.' 

' ' Cowdery commenced his task of reading at the 
table, the others sittino- around. The reading had 
proceeded for some time, when the candle began to 
spit and splutter, sometimes almost going out, and 
flashing up with a red-blue blaze. Here was a 
phenomenon that could not be mistaken. To say 
that the blaze had been interrupted by the flax 
shives that remained in the tow wicking, would not 
do ; but Mai-tin Harris arrived at a conclusion 
* across lots:' 'Do you see that,' said he, direct- 
ing his remark to me and the old lady, who sat be- 
side him. ' I know what that means ; it is the 



AS TOLD BY OTHISBS, 43 

Devil trying to put out the light, so that we can't 
read any more.' * Yes,' replied the old lad}^ ; 
' I seed 'im ! I seed 'im ! as he tried to put out 
the burnin' wick, when the blaze turned blue.' 

*' The tallow dip shortened at such a fearful rate 
that the further reading had to be abandoned. It 
was now past ten, and the other members of the 
family retired. The MS. was carefully put away, 
and directions given as to where we were to sleep. 
In the mean time Mother Smith loaded a clay pipe 
with tobacco, which she ground up in her hands ; a 
broom splint was lighted in the candle, and the 
delicious fumes issued in clouds from the old lady's 
mouth. 

* * She now began to talk incessantly for the little 
time that remained, and told me at some length 
the dream that she had, when I appeared before 
her, *in the nice suit of clothes and ruffled shirt,' 
as she expressed it ; and continued : ' You'll have 
visions and dreams, mebby, to-night ; but don't 
git skeered ; the angel of the Lord will protect 
you.' 

** After breakfast, in the morning. Mother Smith 
followed me as I arose from the table, and plied me 
with questions as to whether I had had dreams, 
and whether I had seen a vision that * skeered ' me. 
I told her I had a dream, but so strange that I 
could not tell it to her or any one else. The fact 
was communicated to Harris and the rest. All 
saw that I looked sober, and I determined to leave 
them in doubt and wonder. 

*' We started back to Palmyra, Cowdery bearing 
in his hand the sacred scroll. Martin was exceed- 
ingly anxious that I should give him at least some 
glimpse of the strange things I had seen in my 
dream. I told him that was impossible, and I be- 
gan to doubt whether I ought to tell it to any 
human being. They all became interested in my 



U THE PBOFHET OF PALMYBA. 

reply ; and the prophet himself, forgetting his 
taciturnity, said: 'I can tell 3^ou what it was. I 
hare felt just as you do. Wait, and the angel of 
the Lord will open your eyes.' Here we parted, 
and I returned to the home of my brother," 



EX-GOVEBNOn HARDING'S LETTER, 45 



CHAPTER V. 

EX-GO YEEXOR haedixg's LETTER. — Continued, 

Curious Deyelop:mexts— Haeris's Frenzy— An Incident in 
Indiana — In Utah — Eeflections, Suggestions, etc. 

''About two weeks after this I met Martin Harris. 
He was glad to see me ; inquired how I felt since 
my dream. He told me that since he saw me at 
Mr. Smith's, he had seen fearful signs in the 
heavens. That he was standing alone one night, and 
saw a fiery sword let down out of heaven, and point- 
ing to the east, west, north, and south, then to the 
hill of Cumorah, where the plates of Nephi were 
found. At another time, he said, as he was passing 
with his wagon and horses from town, his horses 
suddenly stopped and would not budge an inch. 
When he plied them with his whip, they com- 
menced snorting and pawing the earth as they had 
never done before. He then commenced smelling 
brimstone, and knew the Devil was in the road, 
and saw him plainly as he walked up the hill and 
disappeared. I said, ' What did he look like? ' 

*' He replied : ' Stephen, I will give you the best 
description that I can. Imagine a greyhound as 
big as a horse, without any tail, walking upright 
on his hind legs.' * 

''I looked at him with perfect astonishment. 
' Now, Stephen,' continued he, 'do tell me your 
dream.' I dropped my head and answered : ' I 
am almost afraid to undertake it.' He encour- 
aged me, and said it was revealed to him that an- 

* Mr. Harris ought to have known that creature could not 
have been the Devil, as his majesty most surely has a tail. — T. G. 



46 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

other vessel was to be chosen, and that Joseph had 
the gift of interpreting dreams the same as Daniel, 
who was cast into the lions' den. I said, * Mr. 
Harris, after considering the matter, I conclude 
that I ought not to repeat my dream to you, only 
on one condition : that you will pledge your honor 
not to tell it to any one.' * Oh, do let me tell it 
to Joseph. He can tell all about what it means.' 
< Well,' said I, ' What I mean is, you may tell it 
to whom you please, only you shall not connect my 
name with it.' ' I'll do it ! I'll do it ! ' said he, 
hastil}?-. ' Joseph will be able to tell who it was, 
the same as if I told the name.' " 

[Here the narrator proceeded to relate a wonder- 
ful dream that never was dreamed, during the course 
of which he took occasion to describe some char- 
acters that had appeared to him on a scroll — pre- 
senting some of them with a pencil, a mixture of 
stenographic characters and the Greek alphabet, 
rudely imitated. These were handed to Mr. 
Harris.] 

'* Speechless with amazement, he looked at them 
for a moment, and then springing to his feet, and 
turning his eyes toward heaven, with uplifted hands, 
cried out : 

" ' O Lord, Grod ! the very characters that are 
upon the plates of Nephi ! ' 

'' He looked again at the characters, and then at 
me, with perfect astonishment. His excitement was 
such that I became positively alarmed, for it seemed 
to me that he was going crazy. I began to have 
some compunctions of conscience for the fraud that 
I had practiced upon him ; for I might as well say 
just here, as well as anywhere, that the dream had 
been improvised for the occasion. He suggested 
that we go to the house of old man Smith and there 
relate my dream. I told him that I would never 
repeat it again to anybody. He bade me good-bye, 
sayino^ : < You are a chosen vessel of the Lord.' 



EX-OOVERNOH HARDING'S LETTER. 47 

* ' There is but one excuse for my conduct on this 
occasion ; that was, to fathom the depth of his 
credulity. 

' ' For the next two or three weeks I did not meet 
Harris or any of the Smiths or Cowdery. About 
four weeks afterwards I again visited Palmyra, and 
spent part of the day in the printing-office, where 
I found the prophet, Cowdery, and Harris again. 
The latter took me by the hand Avith a grip and a 
shake that were full of meaning ; even the prophet 
himself shook hands with me, looking me steadily 
in the eye as if new ideas possessed him in regard 
to myself ; and it was evident that my dream had 
been repeated to these people, and that it was a 
puzzle to them all. 

* ' In the meantime the printing of the Booh of 
Mormon was proceeding. There was abundant 
evidence that the proof sheets had been carefully 
corrected. The printing was done on a lever press 
of that period ; and when a sufficient number of 
pages for the entire edition of ^yq thousand copies 
had been completed, the type had to be distributed. 
This was a slow process in comparison with what 
is done in a jobbing office of to-day. Mr. Tucker, 
the foreman, had just received from Albany a font 
of new type, and had set up with his own hands the 
title page of the Booh of Mormon, and preparations 
were now ready for the first impression. About 
this time the prophet's father also came in. He, 
too, had evidently heard of my dream, and shook 
my hand most cordially. Mr. Grandin and two 
or three typos were present, as if curious in seeing 
the first impression of the title page. Tucker took 
up the ink-balls and made the form ready ; then 
laying the blank sheet upon it, with one pull at the 
lever the work was done ; then taking the impres- 
sion, looked at it a moment, passed it to Cowdery, 
who scanned it carefully, and passed it to the 



48 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

prophet himself, who seemed to be examming eveiy 
letter, and without speaking gave it into the hands 
of his father and Harris. It was then returned to 
Tucker. Of course we all looked at it with more 
or less curiosity, and the work was pronounced 
excellent. Tucker, who was my cousin, then handed 
it to me, saying : ' Here, Steve, I'll give this to 
you. You may keep it as a curiosity.' I thanked 
him, and put it carefully in my pocket. 

' ' It was not long until rumors of the dream had 
reached the ears of many persons. Upon hearing 
this I felt some concerned, for I did not want to be 
mixed up or identified with this thing in the least. 
But all of my apprehension soon vanished, when I 
found my name had no connection with it, and that 
the dream had been a real vision of the jprophet 
himself! Of course this relieved me of all appre- 
hension, and greatly increased my desire to make 
further experiments in this wild fanaticism. 

*' My next subject was Calvin Stoddard, a very 
clever man, who had been a kind of exhorter among 
the Methodists. He was a married man, and lived 
with his wife in a frame house with unpainted 
weather-boarding, that had become loose from age 
and exposure to wind and weather. I had met 
Mr. Stoddard on several occasions, and his conver- 
sation generally turned on the subject of the new 
revelation. He said that we were living in the 
latter days spoken of in the Bible, and that wonder- 
ful things would come to pass on the earth ; that 
he had seen signs in the heavens that would satisfy 
any one that a new dispensation was coming. That 
young Joseph had had a dream that was more 
wonderful than anything he had ever read in the 
book of Daniel, and that if the village of Palmyra 
did not repent it would meet the fate of Sodom and 
Gomorrah. 

"Mr. Tucker, in his book, has referred to the 



EX-GOVERNOR HARDING'S LETTER. 49 

call that was given to Stoddard on one occasion, 
to preach the new gospel. In the main, his state- 
ment is substantially true ; nevertheless, it does 
great injustice to the dramatic effect of the call that 
was given. Suffice it to say, that Stoddard and 
his wife were among the primitive members of the 
Mormon Church, and in obedience to the call, con- 
tinued to preach the best that he could to the close 
of his life.* Beqiiiscat in jyace. 

*' It was now getting about time for me to return 
West, and in the month of September, 1829, 1 took 
passage on a canal packet for Buffalo. In the mean- 
time marvellous stories were being circulated 
throughout the neighborhood, in regard to the 
strange dream of the prophet, and the celestial call 
of Calvin Stoddard to preach the new gospel. I 
had received from Harris and Cowdery the first 
and second chapters of the Book of Mormon, 
These, with the title page before mentioned, were 
carefully put away in my trunk. Three or four 
daj^s before my embarkation, Martin Harris, in 
company with Cowdery, met me at the village, 
manifesting a great deal of concern at my intended 
departure, informing me that young Joseph had 
been having visions. The day was fixed when I 
was to leave, and we separated, and the reader 
may judge of my astonishment when Harris and 
Cowdery came on board the boat at the first lock 
below the village, and approached me very much 
excited, Martin particularly. He wanted to know 
if I was really starting West. I informed* him that 
I was going directly home to Indiana. He said 
that the night before the angel of the Lord had 
visited Joseph, and informed him that I was a 

* For the particulars of tliis remarkable conversion, the 
reader is referred to the account to be found in another 
chapter. Mr. Stoddard was married to one of the prophet's 
sisters, and lived and died in the faith in Illinois. — Editor. 



50 THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYBA. 

chosen vessel of the Lord, and they must pursue me 
at least as far as Rochester, and inform me of the 
commands of the angel, and that I must remain in 
Palmyra until the printino- of the Booh of Mormon 
was completed ; after which I must go to the city 
of London and there remain until the Lord would 
inform me what to do. This, I confess, was a new 
phase in this wild fanaticism, and I felt veiy much 
puzzled and confounded. The first I said was : 
' Where is the money to come from to pay my 
passage to London?' * Oh,' said Martin, * the 
Lord will find the money. The Booh of Mormon 
will sell for thousands and thousands of dollars, 
and I can furnish the money any day, if necessary.' 

' ' I confess that for a time I felt very much con- 
fused. I had bidden all my friends good-bye, and 
could not have returned to Palmyra in company with 
these men without seriously compromising myself. 
And yet, what a temptation was here presented to 
me to play the rdle of the hypocrite and villain ! I 
had no complications, either of love or business, 
and was as free as the winds that sweep over the 
prairies. Many times, since Mormonism has be- 
come a most dangerous proselytism throughout all 
Christendom, have I asked myself: AYhat if I had 
accepted the apple plucked from the tree of knowl- 
edge of good and evil, crucified my own sense of 
honor and manhood, and sold myself to the devil 
of ambition ! It is hardly probable, notwithstand- 
ing all this, that the Dead Sea fruit would have 
turned to ashes on my lips. 

**They continued with me until we arrived at 
Rochester, where we parted. In the mean time it 
seemed as if these messengers sent to intercept me 
would hardly take « Xo' for an answer. Martin, 
with great earnestness, dwelt upon the danger of 
disobeying the commands of the Lord, and proph- 
esied that I would soon be removed from the earth. 



EX-GOVEBNOB HABDING'S LETTEB. 51 

and most probably before I reached ni}^ destination, 
quoting several passages of Scripture fitting my 
case. On leaving, they shook me by the hand 
most heartily, Martin warning me of the dangers 
ahead. The whole scene was worthy of the pro- 
foundest study. Here were two men, w^hose names 
will go down through the ages as witnesses to the 
divine authenticity of the BooJc qf Mormon, whose 
superstition and credulity were such as to unseat 
all confidence in what are termed miracles ; and 
yet, at that time, the evidence of Martin Harris 
would have been received in a court of justice 
against all of the Smiths, Pages, and Whitmers, 
who have published to the world, in the presence of 
God, that they had ' seen and hefted ' the mirac- 
ulous plates ! This, it will be remembered, was 
before Brigham Young, Heber Kimball, or John 
Taylor had ever heard of the new dispensation. 

*'In 1847, after the expulsion of the Mormons 
from Nauvoo, I came home one Saturday night 
from court, and found a stranger at m}^ house. 
This was not remarkable, for it was generally un- 
derstood that my doors had never been shut in the 
face of any human being in distress, black or white. 
He was a middle-aged man, an Englishman, named 
Campbell. He told me that he had come from the 
city of Xauvoo, and was going to some place in 
Ohio ; had heard of me before he left K'auvoo, and 
hoped I would not consider it an intrusion if he 
stayed over until ]\Ionday morning. He was really 
an inofiensive-looking person, and was possessed of 
considerable intelligence. He had emigrated from 
England a few 3^ears before, and was, by trade, a 
copper-plate engraver. During his stay in my 
house, I informed him that I had the first title page 
of the Booh of Mormon, that was ever printed, and 
briefly related to him how it came into my posses- 
sion. I produced it, and as he examined the strange 



52 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

relic it was evident that a feeling of awe and Yen- 
eration had come over him. ' Is it possible ! Is 
it possible ! ' exclaimed he, his eyes still fixed upon 
it. * The hand of the Lord is in it.' He contin- 
ued to examine it with so much fascination, I said : 
' You take so much interest in this that I will give 
it to you.' 

" * Will you let me take it away ? ' said he. 
** ' Oh, yes, sir, you may keep it as your own,' I said. 

" ' Thank you, sir ! God bless you. The angel 
of the Lord must have directed me to this house.' 
He said it would add greatly to the value of the 
relic, if I would write something over my own 
name. I told him I would do so, and wrote the 
following ; 

" * * ' This is the first title page of the Booh of Mor- 
mon that was ever printed. It was printed in the 
presence of Joseph Smith, Jr., Joseph Smith, Sr., 
Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and myself, at 
the office of the Wayiie Sentinel, Palmyra, New 
York, August, 1829, — and which was examined and 
handled by all the persons above named, and the 
same is hereby respectfully presented to the Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Stephen 
S. Harding, of Milan, Ind.* 

*' It will be seen, hereafter, how a little crumb of 
bread cast upon the waters will be returned. This 
man was evidently as honest and sincere in his be- 
lief as any member of the most orthodox church. 
When I went to the territory of Utah as Governor, 
in 1862, Mr. Campbell was almost the first one to 
meet me. He held a clerkship in Salt Lake City. 
He was really glad to see me, and shaking my hand, 
said : 

" * Governor, the hand of the Lord is in it. This 
is revelation.' The deep grief that was settled 
upon him was unexplained, until he informed me 



EX-GOYEBNOB HARDING'S LETTER. 53 

that his eldest son, a young man of promise, had 
been drowned a day before in the river Jordan, and 
his body had just been recovered, and was then 
lying at his house ; that he and his wife were nearly 
overwhelmed with sorrow ; but upon hearing of my 
arrival, he had left her in tears and came to pay his 
respects to me, and bid me welcome. Poor fellow ! 
It would have been a hard heart that would not 
have gone out in sympathy for him. 

" I soon learned that the first title page had been 
well preserved in the Historical Society and Mu- 
seum. It had been placed between two panes of 
window glass in a stout frame. By this means it 
could be carefully handled and examined without 
danger of defacement. It had been examined by 
thousands and thousands ; and after my arrival the 
number increased. I looked upon it one day my- 
self, in company with a gentleman from San Fran- 
cisco. I was soon surrounded by a large company 
of simple-minded people, who, after my appoint- 
ment as Governor was known, had heard a thou- 
sand times fi'om bishops and elders, that the hand 
of the Lord was in it. But, alas ! the faces that I 
had known in Palmyra could not be seen. The 
prophet had been overtaken by retributive justice. 
Hyrum, his brother, had also paid the penalty. 
The father and mother had disappeared, and poor 
Martin Harris had been expelled, trampled upon, 
and insulted by the prophet himself in the zenith 
of his power, and was now a wanderer and a vag- 
abond. Cowdery had fared little better. Sidney 
Eigdon was exiled. Unseen hands had been turn- 
ing the wheel of fortune. 'My hand-maiden, 
Emma Smith ' (referred to in the*^ revelation that 
cost the prophet his life) , was the wife of a Gentile, 
and the third Joseph Smith, eldest son of the 
prophet, had to appeal to the Governor, asking for 
protection, before he dared enter the dominions of 



/ 



54 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

the new hierarch. The whole thmg seemed to me 
more like a romance than a reality. 

' ' In your second letter you ask me certain ques- 
tions, which I will now briefly answer. Oliver 
Cowder^^ the scribe of the prophet, was a young 
man of about twenty-four or twenty-five, about the 
age of Smith. I had never known him previous to 
my return to Palmyra. He had been a school- 
teacher in country schools, and I am certain had 
little or no acquaintance with EngKsh grammar at 
that time. If this same OKt er Cowdery studied 
law and was admitted to practice in Ohio, it must 
have been after the time that I met him ; and if he 
ever acquired a knowledge of the dead languages, 
it was certainly afterwards. I never saw, to my 
knowledge, either Sidney Rigdon, or Parley P. 
Pratt, the latter of whom was shot by Dr. McLane 
for proselyting his wife. I knew his brother, Or- 
son Pratt, in Salt Lake City, and also Mrs. Mc- 
Lane, who had been * sealed ' to another man. 

*'As for ' Joe Smith,' the prophet, I have long 
been satisfied that his intellectual forces as a man 
have been greatly underrated.* In deception and 
low cunning he has had no peer. Mahomet was a 
much orreater man intellectuallv ; but he never could 
have pla^^ed the part of Joe Smith, the Mormon 
Prophet. Ignorant as he is represented to have 
been, still he was familiar with the Scriptures, and 
never tired of reading the miracles in the Old Tes- 
tament and in the New. The revelations that he 
pretended to have had, were composed and written 
by somebody, certainl}^ not Solomon Spaulding. 
The most of them evince quite as much talent in 
composition as parts of the Manuscript Found. 
The question again recurs. Who was the author of 
these Revelations? His last one at Nauvoo, in 

* Our opinioa is that they have been greatly over-rated. — 
Editor. 



EX-QOVEBNOn BABDINO'S LETTER. 55 

184-, authorizing Polygamy and spiritual mar- 
riages, wherein the Lord commanded the prophet 
not to put his property out of his hands, could 
hardly liave been written by Oliver Cowdery, the 
Seneca County lawyer, unless he put into the 
mouth of the Lord the language of a country jus- 
tice of the peace. There is another reason, how- 
ever, of much greater significance, that Cowdery 
had nothinor to do with the revelation, for it was 
about that time that he and Martin Harris had 
fallen into disgrace in the Church — had been ex- 
communicated, and published in the coui*t journal 
of the prophet as « liars ' and * white niggers.' * 
I '*That ^\)ii\dmg'^ Manuscript Found w^as the 
real foundation of Mormonism, I have no doubt. 
When he wrote his romance in Ohio, surrounded 
by evidences of a pre-historic race, the sight of 
canoes at that time in general use, would furnish 
the idea and model of the sharp-pointed ships, ' of 
the length of a tree,' constructed at the ship-yards 
of the Land Bountiful, mentioned in the Booh of 
Mormon. All that he had to do, in the conception 
of his model, was to put one canoe on top of an- 
other, bottom-side up, and the idea supplemented 
with breathing holes, is almost complete. The 
bellows made from the skins of beasts, by boss ship- 
carpenters of Bountiful, his kindling a fire by 
striking two stones together, and making tools for 
the workmen out of crude iron ore, are so inex- 
pressive of poetic imagery, that I agree with you, 
it seems improbable that a clergyman who had 

* Here the Governor misapprehends our point. We, nor any- 
one, ever supposed that Spalding had ever had anything to do 
with the "Revelations." Our suggestion was to the effect that 
it may have been Cowdery instead of Rigdon, who somehow 
obtained the Manuscript Found, and placed it in Smith's 
hands, at the beginning of the Imposture, and that they two 
manipulated it into the Book of Mormon^ while pretending to 
" translate" and " transcribe."— Editor. 



56 THE FEOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

graduated at Dartmouth College had ever been its 
author. These portions of the MS. fall below the 
dignity of criticism. There are other portions that 
might readily be attributed to Mr. Spalding. 

" When I was in Palmyra in 1829, I heard the 
particulars of the incident as related by Mr. Tucker, 
when the Smith family was out of meat, and the 
manner in which the black wether of AYilliam Staf- 
ford had been obtained. But I refer the reader to 
the account given in Mr. Tucker's book. The best 
part of the stor}^, however, had been forgotten by 
Mr. T. , as illustrative of the cunning of the young 
money-digger. When Stafford was told it required 
the sacrifice of a black sheep in order to reach the 
hidden treasure, it was not plain to him why the 
blood of one sheep was not as good as that of an- 
other. His black wether, that had been selected 
by young Joe, was large and in excellent condition 
for mutton. Stafford hesitated, and was loth to 
give him up, offering a white wether of smaller 
size, yet in good condition. But the coming prophet 
was not to be foiled in his purpose, and resoited to 
logic that confounded the objector. * The reason 
why it must be a black sheep,' said the young de- 
ceiver, ' is because I have found the treasure by 
means of the hJach art.' This, of course, was un- 
answerable, and the hJach wether was given up. 

" With malice toward none, and charity for all, 
I subscribe myself, 

*' Respectfully 3^ours, 

*« Stephei^ S. Harding." 



PBOFESSOB ANTHON'S STOBY. 57 



CHAPTER yi. 

PROFESSOR ANTHON'S STORY. 

A Plain Statement "Which (Everybody Can Bhlieve. 

Smith, it will be remembered, endeavored to gain 
credence for his story by falsifying men of science 
as to the character of his hieroglyphics and their 
translation. See his story as from Professor '' An- 
thony," in a previous chapter. A few years after 
the appearance of the Booh of Mormon, and the 
publicity of his name in connection with it, Pro- 
fessor Anthon, in reply to inquiries, made the 
following statement : 

*^New York, Feb. 17, 1834. 
'* Some years ago, a plain, apparently simple- 
hearted farmer, called on me with a note from Dr. 
Mitchell, of our city, now dead, requesting me to 
decipher, if possible, the paper which the farmer 
would hand me. Upon examining the paper in 
question, I soon came to the conclusion that it was 
all a trick — perhaps a hoax. When I asked the 
person who brought it, how he obtained the writing, 
he gave me the following account: A « golden 
book,' consisting of a number of plates fastened 
together by wires of the same material, had been 
dug up in the northern part of the State of Is^ew 
lork, and along Avith it an enonnous pair of 
* spectacles ! ' These spectacles were so large, 
that if any person attempted to look through them. 



58 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYEA. 

Ms two eyes would look through one glass only — 
the spectacles in question being altogether too large 
for the human face. * AYhoever,' he said, ' ex- 
amined the plates through the glasses, was. enabled 
not only to read them, but fully to understand their 
meaning.' 

"All this knowledge, however, was confined to a 
young man, who had the trunk containing the book 
and spectacles in his sole possession. This young 
man was placed behind a curtain, in a garret in a 
farm-house, and being thus concealed from \iew, 
he put on the spectacles occasionally, or, rather, 
looked through one of the glasses, deciphered the 
characters in the book, and haying committed some 
of them to paper, handed copies from behind the 
curtain to those who stood outside. Xot a word 
was said about their being deciphered by the ' gift 
of God.' Everything in this way was efiected by 
the large pair of spectacles. The faimer added 
that he had been requested to contribute a sum of 
money toward the publication of the ' golden 
book,' the contents of which would, as he was told, 
produce an entire change in the world, and save it 
from ruin. So urgent had been these solicitations, 
that he intended selling his farm and giving the 
amount to those who wished to publish the plates. 
As a last precautionary step, he had resolved to 
come to Xew York, and obtain the opinion of the 
' learned ' about the meaning of the paper which 
he had brought with him, and which had been given 
him as a part of the contents of the book. 

"The paper in question was, in fact, a singular 
scroll. It consisted of all kinds of singular char- 
acters, disposed in columns, and had evidently been 
prepared by some person who had before him at 
the time a book containing various alphabets ; 
Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses and flourishes, 
Roman letters, inverted or placed sideways, were 



PROFESSOH ANTHON'iS STORY. 59 

arranged and placed in perpendicular columns, and 
the whole ended in a rude delineation of a circle, 
divided into various compartments, arched with 
various strange marks, and evidently copied after 
the Mexican calendar, given by Humboldt, but 
copied in such a way as not to betray the source 
whence it was derived. I am thus particular as to 
the contents of the paper, inasmuch as I have fre- 
quently conversed with my friends on the subject 
since the Mormon excitement began, and well re- 
member that the paper contained anything else but 
* Egyptian hieroglyphics.' 

'' Yours respectfully, 

'' Charles Anthon." 

Thus it appears that Martin Harris had told the 
Professor a straight story in regard to the matter, 
as it had been represented to him ; that the book 
of gold plates, held together with rings, had been 
dug up in Northern New York ; that they were 
being translated by a young man behind a curtain, 
through the medium of the Urim and Thummim, 
which were generally talked of as spectacles — that 
it was designed to publish the translation, and that 
he proposed to contribute money for the purpose — 
(he already had fifty dollars and the expenses of 
this trip in the enterprise.) And no man in his 
senses can be made to believe that Professor An- 
thon, with the reputation he possessed as a scientist 
and man of honor, ever made the reply to Harris 
that is ascribed to him in Smith's narrative. 

This letter of Anthon's was in reply to inquiries 



60 THE FB^OPHET OF^ PALMYRA. 

made of him by Mr. Howe, and first appeared in 
his expos^i Mormonism Unveiled, At a sub- 
sequent date, Rev. T. W. Coit addressed a note of 
inquiry to Professor Anthon, and received in reply 
the substance of the foregoing, to which he added 
the following : 

*'The matter rested here for a considerable time, 
until one day, when I had ceased entirely to think of 
the countryman and his paper, he paid me a second 
visit. He now brought with him a duodecimo 
volume, which he said was a translation into Eng- 
lish of the ' Golden Bible.' He also stated, that, 
notwithstanding his original determination, he had 
been induced eventually to sell his farm, and apply 
the money to the publication of the book, and had 
received the golden plates as a security for pay- 
ment. He begged my acceptance of the volume, 
assuring me that it would be found extremely in- 
teresting, and that it was already ' making a great 
noise ' in the upper part of the State. Suspecting 
now, that some serious trick was on foot, and that 
my plain-looking visitor might be in fact a very 
cunning fellow, I declined his present, and merely 
contented myself with a slight examination of the 
volume while he stood by. The more I declined 
receiving it, however, the more urgent the man be- 
came in offering the book, until at last I told him 
plainly that if he left the volume, as he said he in- 
tended to do, I should most assuredly throw it 
after him as he departed. I then asked him how 
he could be so foolish as to sell his farm and en- 
gage in this affair ; and requested him to tell me if 
the plates were really of gold. In answer to this 
latter inquirj^ he said, that he had not seen the 



PBOFESSOB ANTHOM'S STORY. 61 

plates themselves, which were carefully locked up 
in a trunk, but that he had the trunk in his pos- 
session. I advised him by all means to open the 
trunk and examine its contents, and if the plates 
proved to be of gold, which I did not believe at 
all, to sell them immediately. His reply w^as, that 
if he opened the trunk, the ' curse of Heaven ivould 
descend upon him and his children. However,' 
added he, * I will agree to open it, provided you 
will take the ' curse of Heaven ' upon yourself, for 
having advised me to the step.' I told him I was 
perfectly willing to do so, and begged him to hasten 
home and examhie the trunk, for he would find 
that he had been cheated. He promised to do as 
I recommended, and left me, taking his book with 
him. I have never seen him since. 

' ^ Such is a plain statement of all that I know 
respecting the Mormons. My impression now is, 
that the plain-looking countryman was none other 
than the prophet Smith himself, who assumed an 
appearance of great simplicity in order to entrap 
me, if possible, into some recommendations of his 
book. That the prophet aided me, by his inspira- 
tion, in interpreting the volume, is only one of the 
many amusing falsehoods which the Mormonites 
utter relative to my participation in their doctrines. 
Of these doctrines I know nothing whatever, nor 
have I heard a single discourse from any one of 
their preachers, although I have often felt a strong 
curiosity to become an auditor, since my friends 
tell me that they frequently name me in their ser- 
mons, and even go so far as to say that I am al- 
luded to in the prophecies of Scripture ! 

' ' If what I have here written shall prove of any 
service in opening the eyes of some of their de- 
luded followers to the real designs of those who 
profess to be the apostles of Mormonism, it will 



62 XHE PM^PBET O^ -pjiLMYBA. 

afford me a satisfaction equalled, I have no doubt, 
only hj that wliicli you ^^ourself will feel on this 
subject. 

*' I remain, very respectfully and truly, 
" Your friend, 

" Chas. A:^thon. 
** Eev. Dr. Coit, New Rochelle, X. Y." 



A TEBRIBLE DILEMMA, 63 



CHAPTER YII. 



A TEERIBLE DILEjVIMA. 



Two Revelations ais'd Their Causes — Harris and Satan 
Unjustly Accused — The Real Culprit Uni^nown — A 
Happy Ruse Solves the Difficulty. 

And now comes a most curious part of this re- 
markable story. Mr. Harris had become the aman- 
uensis to the prophet while engaged in translating 
the plates, and from April to June, 1828, had 
written one hundred and sixteen pages of foolscap, 
as called out to him by the translator, using the 
Urim and Thummim. Such valuable service he 
thought was worthy of recognition from a higher 
source, so he teased that the instrument might be 
put into requisition to inquire of the Lord if he 
might not be permitted to carry the writings home 
for exhibition to his wife and friends. Twice the 
Lord pointedly refused ; but upon his insisting, 
leave was granted — only on the express condition 
that they must be shown to only five persons, 
namely : his brother, Preserved Harris, his father 
and mother, his wife, and her sister, Mrs. Cobb. 
And he was required to enter into a most solemn 
covenant to abide by the agreement. He took the 



64 THE PROPHET OF PALMYPA. 

writings, but failed to fulfil his covenant (so this 
stoiy runs) , and they were taken fi'om him by 
stratagem, ''and have never been recovered nor 
obtained back again unto this day." 

Here was a difficulty that was likely to prove 
disastrous, and perhaps never could have been 
overcome had it not been for the ingenuity of the 
messenger — and the Lord. Says Smith : 

'« I was walking out a little distance when behold 
the former heavenly messenger appeared and handed 
me the Urim and Thummim again (for it had been 
taken from me in consequence of my having wearied 
the Lord in asking for the privilege of letting 
Martin Harris take the waitings, which he had lost 
by transgression), and I inquired of the Lord 
through them, and obtained the following revela- 
tion." 

This revelation is given here entire, as being the 
first deemed by its author worthy of being pre- 
served, among the long series of pretended com- 
munications from the Almighty ; and as furnishing, 
together with another on the same subject, also 
given in full, indubitable evidence of the falsity and 
absurdity, and blasphemous character of his pre- 
tensions. The book of Doctrine and Covenants, 
the authentic collection of these revelations, con- 
tains another, for which a prior date is given ; but 
it is evidently an after-thought, and was placed 
there as an introduction to those that follow. 



A TERBIBLE DILEMMA. 65 

Revelation to Joseph Smith, Jr., given July, 
1828, concerning certain manuscripts on the first 
part of the Booh of Mormon, which had been 
taken from the p)ossession of Martin Harris. 

1. The works, and the designs, and the pur- 
poses of God, cannot be frustrated, neither can 
they come to nought, for God doth not walk in 
crooked paths ; neither doth he turn to the right 
hand nor to the left ; neither doth he vary from 
that which he hath said ; therefore his paths are 
straight and his course is one eternal round. 

2. Remember, remember, that it is not the 
work of God that is frustrated, but the work of 
men ; for although a man may have many revela- 
tions, and have power to do many mighty works, 
yet, if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at 
nought the counsels of God, and follows after the 
dictates ot his own will, and carnal desires, he 
must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God 
upon him. 

3. Behold, you have been intrusted with these 
things, but how strict were your commandments; 
and remember, also, the promises which were made 
unto you, if you did not transgress them ; and be- 
hold how oft you have transgressed the command- 
ments and the laws of God, and have gone on in 
the persuasions of men ; yet behold, you should 
not have feared man more than God, although men 
set at nought the counsels of God, and despise hi- 
words, yet you should have been faithful and he 
would have extended his arm, and supported you 
against all the fiery darts of the adversary, and he 
would have been with you in every time of trouble. 

4. Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast 
chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of 
transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt fall, 
but remember God is merciful ; therefore repent of 



66 THE PROPHET OF PALMYPA. 

that which thou hast done, which is contrary to the 
commandment which I gave you, and thou art still 
chosen, and art again called to the work ; except 
thou do this, thou shalt be delivered up and become 
as other men, and have no more gift. 

5. And when thou deliveredst up that which 
God had given thee sight and power to translate, 
thou deliveredst up that which was sacred, into the 
hands of a wicked man, who has set at nought the 
counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred 
promises, which were made before God, and has 
depended upon his own judgment, and boasted 
in his own wisdom, and this is the reason that 
thou hast lost thy privileges for a season, for thou 
hast suffered the counsel of thy director to be 
trampled upon from the beginning. 

6. Nevertheless, my work shall go forth, for 
inasmuch as the knowledge of a Saviour has come 
unto the world, through the testimony of the Jews, 
even so shall the knowledge of a Saviour come unto 
my people, and to the Nephites, and the Jacobites, 
and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the 
testimony of their fathers, and this testimony shall 
come to the knowledge of the Lamanites, and the 
Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who dwindled in 
unbelief because of the iniquity of their fathers, 
whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their breth- 
ren the Nephites, because of their iniquities and 
their abominations ; and for this very purpose are 
these plates preserved which contain these records, 
that the promises of the Lord might be fulfilled, 
which he made to his people ; and that the Laman- 
ites might come to a knowledge of their fathers, 
and that they might know the promises of the Lord, 
and that they may believe the gospel and rely upon 
the merits of Jiesus Christ, and be glorified through 
faith on his name, and that through their repent- 
ance they might be saved. Amen, 



A TEBBIBLE DILEMMA, 67 

The Urim and Thummim were now taken from 
liim, but restored in a few days, and the following 
revelation was forthcoming, dating ten months after 
the other. The long dela}^ will probably be made 
apparent in the sequel 

EEYELAtriON given to Joseph Smithy Jr.^ May, 
1829, informing him of the alteration of the 
manuscrijDt of the fore jpart of the Booh of Mor- 
mon, 

1. Now, behold, I say unto you, that because 
you delivered up those writings which you had 
power given unto you to translate, by the means of 
the Urim and Thummim, into the hands of a wicked 
man, you have lost them ; and you also lost your 
gift at the same time, and your mind became dark- 
ened ; nevertheless, it is now restored unto you 
again, therefore see that you are faithful and con- 
tinue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the 
work of translation as you have begun ; do not run 
faster or labor more than you have strength and 
means provided to enable jou to translate ; but be 
diligent unto the end ; pray always that you may 
come off conqueror ; 3^ea, that you may conquer 
Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the 
servants of Satan, that do uphold his work. Be- 
hold, they have sought to destroy you ; yea, even 
the man in whom you have trusted, has sought to 
destroy you. And for this cause I said he is a 
wicked man, for he lias sought to take away the 
things wherewith you have been entrusted ; and he 
has also sought to destroy your gift, and because 
you have delivered the writings into his hands, be- 
hold, wicked men have taken them from you ; there- 
fore you have delivered them up, yea, that which 
was sacred, unto wickedness. And behold, Satan 



68 THE PROPHET OF PAL MY B A. 

has put it into their hearts to alter the words which 
you have caused to he written, or which you have 
translated, which have gone out of your hands ; and 
behold, I say unto you, that because they have 
altered the words, they read contrary from that 
which you translated and caused to be written, and 
on this wise the devil has sought to lay a cunnhig 
plan, that he may destroy this work ; for he has 
put it into their hearts to do this, that by lying 
they may say they have caught you in the words 
which you have pretended to translate. 

2. Verily I say unto 3^ou that I will not suffer 
that Satan shall accomplish his evil design in this 
thing ; for l^ehold he has put it into their hearts to 
get thee to tempt the Lord thy God, in asking to 
translate it over again ; and then behold they say 
and think in their hearts, we will see if God has 
given him power to translate, if so he will also give 
him power again, or if he translate again, or in 
other words, if he bringeth forth the same words, 
behold we have the same with us and we have 
altered them ; therefore they will not agree, and 
we will say that he has lied in his words, and that 
he has no gift, and that he has no power; there- 
fore, we will destroy him, and also the work; and 
we will do this that we may not be ashamed in the 
end, and that we may get glory of the world. 

3. Verily, verily, I say unto you that Satan 
has got hold upon their hearts ; he stirreth them 
up to iniquity against that which is good, and their 
hearts are corrupt, and full of wickedness and 
abominations, and they love darkness rather than 
light, because their deeds are evil ; therefore they 
will not ask of me. Satan stirreth them up, that 
he may lead their souls to destruction. And thus 
he has laid a cunning plan, thinking to destroy the 
work of God, but I will require this at their hands, 
and it shall turn to their shame and condemnation 



A TERRIBLE DILEMMA. 69 

in the day of judgment; yea, he stirreth up their 
hearts to anger against this work ; yea, he saith 
unto them deceive, and lie in wait to catch, that ye 
may destro}^ ; behold this is no harm, and thus he 
flattereth them, and telleth them that it is no sin to 
lie, that they may catch a man in a lie, that they may 
destroy him, and thus he flattereth them, and leadeth 
them along until he draggeth their souls down to 
hell ; and thus he causeth them to catch themselves 
in their, own snare, and thus he goeth up and down, 
to and fro in the earth, seeking to destroy the souls 
of men. 

4. Yerily, verily, I say unto you, wo be unto 
him that lietli to deceive, because he supposeth 
that another lieth to deceive, for such are not ex- 
empt from the justice of God. 

5. Now, behold they altered those words be- 
cause Satan saith unto them : He hath deceived you ; 
and thus he flattereth them away to do iniquity, to 
get thee to tempt the Lord thy God. 

6. Behold I say unto you that you shall not 
translate again those words which have gone forth 
out of your hands ; for behold, they shall not ac- 
complish their evil designs in lying against those 
words. For, behold, if you should bring forth the 
same words they will say that j^ou have lied ; that 
you have pretended to translate, but that you have 
contradicted yourself; and behold, they will pub- 
lish this, and Satan will harden the hearts of the 
people to stir them up in anger against you, that 
they will not believe my words. Thus Satan 
thinketh to overpower jomy testimony in this gen- 
eration that the work may not come forth in this 
generation : but, behold here is wisdom, and be- 
cause I shew unto you wisdom, and give you com- 
mandments concerning these things, what you shall 
do, show it not unto the world until you have ac- 
complished the work of translation. 



70 THE PROPHET OF PALMYEA. 

7. Marvel not that I said unto you, here is wis- 
dom, show it not unto the world, for I said show 
it not unto the world, that you may be preserved. 
Behold I do not say that you shall not show it unto 
the righteous ; but as you cannot always judge the 
righteous, or as you cannot always tell the wicked 
from the righteous, therefore, I say unto you, hold 
your peace, until I shall see fit to make all things 
known unto the world concerning the matter. 

8. And now, verily I say unto you, that an 
account of those things that you have written, 
which have gone out of your hands, are engraven 
upon the plates of Xephi ; yea, and you remember, 
it was said in those writings that a more particular 
account was given of those things upon the plates 
of "Nephi. 

9. And, now, because the account which is en- 
graven upon the plates of Xephi, is more particular 
concerning these things, which in my wisdom I 
would bring to the knowledge of the people in this 
account ; therefore 3^ou shall translate the engrav- 
ings which are on the plates of Xephi, down even 
until you come to the reign of King Benjamin, 
or until you come to that which you have translated, 
which you have retained ; and you shall publish it 
as the record of Xephi, and thus I will confound 
those who hav3 altered my words. I will not 
suffei* that they shall destroy my work ; yea, I will 
show unto them that my wisdom is greater than 
the cunning of the Devil. 

10. Behold they have only got a part or an 
abridgment of the account of Nephi. Behold 
there are many things engraven on the plates of 
Xephi, which do throw greater views upon my 
gospel ; therefore it is wisdom in me, that you 
should translate this first pai-t of the engravings of 
Nephi, and send forth in this work. And behold, 
all the remainder of this work does contain all those 



A TERRIBLE DILEM^tA. 71 

parts of my gospel Avhicli my lioly prophets, yea, 
and also my disciples desired in their prayers, 
should come forth unto this people. And I said 
unto them that it should be granted unto them ac- 
cording to their faith in their prayers ; yea, and 
this was their faith, that my gospel which I gave 
unto them, that they might preach in their days, 
might come unto their brethren, the Lamanites, 
and also all that had become Lamanites, because of 
their dissentions. 

11. Now this is not all, their faith in their 
prayers were, that this gospel should be made 
known also, if it were possible, that other nations 
should possess this land : and thus the}" did leave 
a blessing upon this land in their prayers, that 
whosoever should believe in this gospel in this 
land might have eternal life, yea, that it might be 
free unto all of whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue 
or people, they may be. 

12. And, now, behold according to their faith 
in their prayers, will I bring this part of my gospel 
to the knowledge of my people. Behold I do not 
bring it to destroy that which they have received, 
but to build it up. 

13. And for this cause have I said, if this gen- 
eration harden not their hearts, I will establish my 
church among them. Now I do not say this to 
destroy my church ; but I say this to build up my 
church ; therefore, whosoever belongeth to my 
church need not fear, for such shall inherit the 
kingdom of heaven, but it is they who* do not fear 
me, neither keep my commandments, but buildeth 
up churches unto themselves to get gain, yea, and 
all those that do wickedly, and buildeth up the 
kingdom of the Devil ; yea, verily, verily, I say 
unto you, that it is they that I will disturb, and 
cause to tremble and shake to the centre. 

14. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the son of God. 



72 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

I came unto my own, and my own received me not. 
I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the 
darkness comprehendeth it not. I am he who said 
other sheep have I which are not of this fold, unto 
my disciples, and many there were that undei-stood 
me not. 

15. And I will show unto this people that I 
had other sheep, and that they were a branch of 
the house of Jacob : and I will bring to light 
their marvellous works, which they did in my 
name : yea, and I will also bring to light my gos- 
pel, which was ministered unto them, aad behold 
they shall not deny that which you have received, 
but they shall build it up, and shall bring to light 
the true points of my doctrine, yea, and the only 
doctrine which is in ire ; and this I do that I may 
establish my gospel, that there may not be so much 
contention; yea, Satan doth stir up the hearts of 
the people to contention, concerning the points of 
my doctrine : and in these things they do err, for 
they do wrest the Scriptures, and do not under- 
stand them : therefore, I will unfold unto them this 
great mystery, for behold I will gather them as a 
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if they 
will not harden their hearts ; yea, if they will come, 
they may, and partake of the waters of life freeh'. 

16. Behold, this is my doctrine : whosoever 
repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my 
church, whosoever deciareth more or less than this, 
the same is not of me, but is against me : therefore 
he is not of my church. 

17. And now, behold, whosoever is of my 
church, and endureth of my church to the end, him 
will I establish upon my Rock, and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against them. 

18. And now, remember the words of him who 
is the life and the light of the world, your Re- 
deemer, your Lord, and 3^our God. Amen. 



A TEE BIBLE DILEMMA. 73 

And these two long harangues, abounding in 
absurdities, blasphemy, misquoted Scripture, and 
bad Q:rammar, are fifiven foil;!! as communications 
from the Almighty ! On what pretense and for 
what purpose ? This pretender to a divine mission 
had produced one hundred and sixteen pages of 
what he claimed to be a translation from gold 
plates revealed to him by an angel from heaven ; 
these pages had been entrusted to IVIartin Harris 
and lost, causing a very serious dilemma, as he 
had sense enough to perceive that he could not by 
'^translation" or otherwise, reproduce them. So 
these " revelations" were resorted to as a remedy 
for the difficulty. 

The real facts were these : Mr. Harris had, in 
good faith and honesty of purpose, carried the 
manuscript home to exhibit to his wife and four 
friends, in accordance with his ''solemn covenant" ; 
but his more sensible spouse, not being a believer 
in such blasphemies, and foreseeing only trouble 
and ruin to her husband, abstracted it in his sleep, 
and committed it to the flames. For years she 
kept the fact a profound secret, even until after 
the book was published. But this active hostility 
on her part, finally produced a feud in the family 
which resulted in separation. — Pomeroy's History. 

This last "revelation," after ten months' labor, 
is produced, informing the prophet " of the altera- 



74 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

tion of tlie manuscript of the fore part of the Booh 
of Mormon^'" and yet no alterations had been made. 
Neither the prophet Smith, the heavenly messenger, 
nor even the Lord (according to the story) , knew 
what had become of the lost images ; but were falsely 
accusing innocent persons of altering and pervert- 
ing them at Satan's instigation. And not only that, 
the whole three are written down as dishonest — ^the 
Lord in instigating a dishonest transaction, and 
the others as participators in carr^dng it out ; using 
tiie Devil's own weapons to counteract the designs 
of his emissaries. 

It is difficult to conceive of a more senseless 
piece of folly ; and yet it is given forth in all 
solemnity, as a cuto ochcmc of the Lord to circum- 
vent the cunning of tho Devil and his abettors. 
And yet those two " revelations " are printed in all 
editions of the Doctrines and Covenants^ and care- 
fully read and quoted by thousands of Mormon ad- 
herents ! 



STOliY AND BOOK EXA2iIKED. 



CHAPTER Yin. 

THE STOEY AND THE BOOK EXAMINED. 

Evidences of Falsity— The Eecord— Its Title—" Con- 
Fou>'^DiNG OF Language" — The Nephite-Laivianite 
Ajmericaxs— Metal of the Plates— Plates Remaining 
Buried— A Bonanza— Mariner's Compass— To Work 
BY Faith. 

We have now followed this story as told hy its 
author, from its inception down to the period of its 
development into a systematic and wicked scheme 
of imposture. On it the whole structure of Mor- 
monism is built. It is the ground-work of a delu- 
sion, which, for fifty years, has been spreading 
over the United States and making proselytes in 
Europe and Asia, and in the islands of the sea. 

It contains within itself many evidences of its 
falsity, which, when properly weighed and consid- 
ered, must cause it to be rejected by every intelli- 
gent and well-balanced mind. And when viewed, 
in connection with surrounding circumstances, and 
with the well-known characters and lives of its 
author and chief abettors, it becomes simply as- 
tounding that any human being, in the wide range 
of humanity, can be found so credulous as to be- 
lieve it. The fact that hundreds and thousands do 



76 THE PROPHET OF PALM YEA. 

accept it, and build their hopes of salvation upon 
it, without so much as a decent inquiry into its 
truth, is a mournful one, in any fair estimate we 
may make of human intelligence. And now let us 
examine it somewhat in detail. 

This investigation naturally divides itself into 
three branches, as embraced in the following propo- 
sitions : 

1. The Importance of the Message to the World. 

2. The Manner of its Communication. 

3. The Character and Qualifications of the Agent 
employed. 

In considering the question of the importance of 
the message to the world, we must first discover 
what it purports to be. The reader will bear in mind 
that the golden plates of the story so miraculously 
obtained, were translated by JosejDh Smith, Jun- 
ior,* through the medium of the Urim and Thum- 
mim, into a book, which is designated as ''The 
Booh of Mormon''. The folio wing is its title entire : 

' ' The Book of Mormon : An Account Written 
BY THE Hand of Mormon, upon Plates 
Taken from the Plates of Nephi. 

' ' Wherefore it is an abridgment of the Eecord 
of the People of Nephi ; and also of the Lamanites ; 
written to the Lamanites, which are a remnant of 
the House of Israel ; and also Jew and Gentile ; 

* The father being also named Joseph, the yonng prophet 
was always particular to have the "Junior" designation ap- 
pended to his name. 



STOFY AND BOOK EXAMINED. 77 

written by wii}' of comniaiuliDent, and nUo by the 
spirit of Prophecy and of Eevelation. Written and 
sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they 
might not be destroyed ; to come forth by the gift 
and power of God, unto the interpretation thereof; 
sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the 
LoED ; to come forth in due time by the way of 
Gentile ; the interpretation thereof by the gift of 
God ; an abridgment taken from the £ooJc of 
Ether. 

"Also, which is a Record of the People of Jared, 
which were scattered at the time the Loed con- 
founded the language of the people when they w^ere 
building a tower to get to Heaven ; which is to shew 
unto the remnant of the House of Israel how great 
things the Loed hath done for their fathers ; and 
that the}^ may know the covenants of the Lord, 
that they are not cast ofi' forever ; and also to the 
convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the 
Cheist, the Eteenal God, manifesting himself unto 
all Nations. And now if there be fault, it be the 
mistake of men ; wherefore condemn not the things 
of God, that 3^e may be found spotless at the judg- 
ment seat of Cheist. 

" By Joseph Smith, Junior, 
'* Author and Proprietor." 

Title, preface, and admonition, all in one. 

The foregoing is a verbatim copy from the first 
edition, printed in 1829-30, by E. B. Grandin, as 
the title page indicates, " for the author." On the 
succeeding page is the usual copyright certificate 
of " R. R. Lansixg, Clerk of the Northern District 
of New York," certifying that, '* on the 11th day 
of June, A.D. 1829," Joseph Smith, Junior, di4 



78 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

deposit the title of a book, " the right whereof he 
claims as author^'' and reciting the title page as 
above. In subsequent editions the obvious ab- 
surdity of claiming to be the author of a work sent 
from Heaven, seems to have been discovered, and 
the signature of "Moroni," the angel, takes the 
place of ' ' Joseph Smith " ; but whether the sub- 
stitution mends the matter we will not attempt to 
decide. It makes the angel an applicant for copy- 
right in a book, which, according to his own state- 
ment, was only partly his own. Still later editions 
— especiall}^ those issued at Piano, Illinois, for the 
" Reconstructed " branch of the church — make still 
further changes, and slightly "reconstruct" its 
phraseology. 

The design and purpose of the work, however, 
will be hard to discover from the " confounding of 
language " in its title. But, on examination, we 
find it to be a pretended history of the early inhab- 
itants of the American Continent ; that they are 
represented to have been the descendants of some 
of the people who were dispersed at the Tower of 
Babel, and also of some of the tribes of Israel, who 
left Jerusalem during the reign of King Zedekiah ; 
that one portion managed to reach these shores in 
" eight barges," " as tight as a dish and as long as 
a tree " ; that their principal business here was 
preaching and fighting, and writing records ; and 



STOIIY AND BOOK EXAMINED. 79 

that after multifarious and terrible wars, they ])e- 

came, like the Kilkenny cats , sadly used up, and 

that the Indian tribes, termed '< Lamanites," are 

the tails that were left. 

This, in short, is the Message from Heaven, the 

«' fulness of the gospel," the <' preparatory work," 

that is to usher in " the millennial reign" ! This is 

the story, of which Orson Pratt, one of the ablest 

of Mormon writers, says : 

' ' The nature of the message in the Booh of 
Mormon is such that, if true, none can be saved and 
reject it ; and if false, none can be save who re- 
ceive it. 

Had the general historical idea been dressed in 

good English by one possessed of a well-balanced 

mind, instead of one who had 

' ' eaten of the insane root 
That takes the reason prisoner," 

it might have made a volume of pleasant reading, 
if nothing more ; and had there been any facts 
known to the author to give it color, it might even 
have approached the dignity of a historical ro- 
mance. 

These pretended records are claimed to have been 
handsomely engraved on metal plates, by a suc- 
cession of prophets or holy men, belonging to 
these descendants of the Jews here in America, at 
various periods of their history, from Nephi, in the 
reign of Zedekiah, down to Moroni, the last his- 



80 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

torian among them, in about the fifth century of 
the Christian era. The plates were of various 
metals, manufactured by the writers, sometimes of 
gold, sometimes of brass, and at others of a metal 
not mentioned, but of ores obtained from the mines. 
The brass mines of America are not now known. 

Mormon and Moroni made abridgments of all 
these records on plates of gold, and Imried them in 
the hill Cumorah, which stands near Palmyra, in 
the State of New York. There they had lain, in a 
stone box held together by '' some kind of cement," 
for thirteen centuries, awaiting the advent of some 
suitable person to translate them, and give them to 
the world for its redemption. And that classical 
and consecrated mount is now known as ' ' Mormon 
Hill." VThy do not these people erect a monument, 
or build one of their many temples there ? 

Mormon and Moroni's plates — abridgments only 
of the great encyclopedia of American history — 
were of the precious metal, and they were the only 
ones revealed. The others are presumed to be — 
if we put faith in the story— if not in the hill 
Cumorah, certainlj^ in some " placer " in the 
vicinity ; and the wonder is that the faithful have 
not been " prospecting " for them. Should these, 
or a considerable portion of them, also be of gold, 
their value is great ; as there should be more than 
a dozen of these bundles of plates, besides some other 



STORY AND BOOK EXAMINED, 81 

valuables, " hid up" somewhere about Palmyra. 
Those alone obtained from the stone box, and hid- 
den aAvay again, as described, would make a solid 
block of gold of two hundred cubic inches, w^orth 
many thousand dollars for the metal alone. The 
wonder is, that while excavating for the treasure 
hid by Kidd and the pirates, the youthful prophet 
did not bring to light more of these precious relics 
of antiquity. As evidence of faith in the story, 
* 'Mormon Hill " should have been thoroughly pros- 
pected long ago. 

The nomenclature of the volume is unique, if not 
classical, or beautiful, as witness such names as 
Eiplakish, Shiz, Shule, Kib, Com, Coriantumr, 
Gadianton, Zarahemla, Mulek, Giddianhi, Gidgid- 
doni, Zemnarihah, Cezoram, beside many others 
equally euphonious. According to the Booh of 
Mormon, Black Hawk, our Indian chief, was a de- 
scendant of the Lamanites ; hence, probably, his 
name , Ma-ha-tai-me-slie-kia-kiali . 

" Lo, and behold," and " And it came to pass," 
are repeated hundreds of times in the volume, sup- 
posably to give the narrative greater solemnity. 
Whole chapters are given bodily and verbatim from 
the writings of the prophets, in the commonly used 
King James version of the Scriptures, but profess- 
edly written by these Jewish- American prophets, 
and translated from the '* Keformed Egjqitian," by 



82 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

Joseph Smith. Strange, indeed, that this Urim 
and Thummim translation should so closely follow 
the renderings of the scholars of King James's day. 
The term " Bible " is put into the mouth of one of 
these prophets to designate the sacred writings, 
hundreds of years before they were collected and 
known by that name. 

The mariners compass, this story gives us to 
know, was in use in the days of Zedekiah ; though 
it is inferred that the one used by Lehi was the 
first one, and that Nephi, the historian, was the in- 
ventor of it — certainly of this one.* It was pre- 
pared for the occasion, as the party was about to 
start on a journey into the wilderness : 

* « And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord 
spake unto my father, by night, and commanded 
him, that on the morrow he should take his journey 
into the wilderness. And it came to pass, that as 
my father arose in the morning, and went forth to 
the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld 
upon the ground a round ball, of curious workman- 
ship, and it was of fine brass. And within the ball 
were two spindles ; and the one pointed the way 
whither we should go into the icitderness (!)... 
And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said 
unto him, Look upon the ball and behold the things 
that are written. . . . And it came to pass that 
I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the 
ball, and they did icorh according to the faith and 
diligence and heed which we did give unto them. { ! ) 

* TMs we find on further reading to be a mistake. The 
name of it was ' ' Liahona — which is, being interpreted, a com- 
pass.; and the Lord prepared it-" 



STOBT AND BOOK EXAMINED. 83 

And there was also written upon them a new 
writing, which was plain to be read, which did give 
us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord ; 
and it was written and changed from time to time, 
according to the cUUgence and faith ivhich v:e gave 
unto it. And thus we see that by small means the 
Lord can bring about great things." — Booh of 
Mormon^ 1st edition, pp. 39-41. 

Truly a wonderful and accommodating compass ! 
Working on principles peculiarly its own, one of 
its spindles pointed the way for them to go, and 
both spindles worked according to the faith and 
diligence and heed given them by its users. And 
afterwards, when they had built a ship, and gone out 
upon the briny and tempestuous ocean, and the tem- 
pests came and the waves ran high, and they were 
sorely troubled, " behold, I took the comjjass, and it 
did work whither I desired it^ Such a compass as 
this which the Lord vouchsafed to Xephi, would be 
invaluable now in the hands of the searchers for the 
Noi-th Pole. With it in skilful hands, and the 
needed diligence and faith, they coidd walk right 
up to the Pole, and plant the stars and stripes, 
without further search. And great is the pity that 
the British government could not have supplied 
such a valuable instrument to Sir John Franklin, 
when he undertook his disastrous voyage ; and it 
would have been so serviceable, too, on board the 
many vessels that were sent out to find him. Li- 
stead of wanderins^ all over the ice-covered seas in 



84 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

their search, it could have led them right up to 
where he and his famishing crew were perishing. 
Oh, why did not these ancient people think to place 
that invaluable compass in the stone box with the 
Urim and Thummim and Laban's sword? or, if 
there, why was it not delivered to Joseph by the 
messenger ? Let us hope that it may yet be found 
somewhere about Cumorah hill. 



EXAMINATION CONTINUED, 85 



CHAPTER IX. 

EXAMINATION CONTINUED. 

A Story for Ship-builders — A Year's Voyage — Eight 
Wonderful Barges— An Electric Light — The Lant) 
OF Promise— War a Pastevie — A Great Battle — Words 
OF Isaiah — Beasts in the Promised Land — Eemarica- 
BJ.E Translation. 

It is Ether, the historian of the Jaredites, who 
informs us how the Jared family, after escaping 
from the *' confounding of language " at the Tower 
of Babel, finally reached these shores. It was a 
remarkable voyage. Navigators, and, indeed, all 
who go down to the sea in ships, will be interested 
in it, and may gain from it some valuable knowl- 
edge pertaining to their perilous calling. It is 
lengthy, and we omit the unimportant portions, 
retaining the main facts. Jared and his brethren 
had reached the sea, '' and they called the name of 
the place Moriancumer," and there they dwelt in 
their tents for the space of four years. But this 
was not to be their abiding place. Turn to page 
542 of the first edition and read the wonderful 
story : 

*< And the Lord said, Go to work and build, after 
the manner of barges which ye have hitherto built. 



86 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did 
go to work, and also his brethren, and built barges 
after the manner which they had built, according 
to the instructions of the Lord. And they were 
small, and they were light upon the water, even 
like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water ; 
and they were built after a manner that they were 
exceeding tight, even that they would hold water 
like unto a dish ; and the bottom thereof was tight 
like unto a dish ; and the sides thereof was tight like 
unto a dish ; and the length thereof was the length 
of a tree ; and the door thereof, when it was shut, 
was tight like unto a dish. And it came to pass 
that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, say- 
ing: O, Lord, I have performed the work which 
thou hast commanded me, and I have made the 
baro'es accordino- as thou hast directed me. And 
behold, O Lord, in them there is no light, whither 
shall we steer. — And also we shall perish, for 
in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air 
which is in them ; therefore, we shall perish. And 
the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, Behold, 
thou shalt make a hole in the top thereof, and also 
in the bottom thereof; and when thou shalt suffer 
for air, thou shalt unstop the hole thereof, and re- 
ceive air. And if it so be that the water come in 
upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole thereof, 
that ye may not perish in the flood. And it came 
to pass that the brother of Jared did so, according 
as the Lord had commanded. And he cried again 
unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, behold I have done 
as thou hast commanded me ; and I have prepared 
the vessels for my people, and behold, there is no 
light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer 
that we shall cross this great water in darkness ? 
And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, What 
will ye that I should do that ye may have light in 
your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, 



EXAMIKATIOK CONTINUED. 87 

for they will be daslied in pieces ; neitlier shall ye 
take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light 
of fire ; for behold, ye shall be as a whale in the 
midst of the sea ; for the mountain waves shall dash 
upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring ^^ou up again 
out of the depths of the sea ; for the winds have gone 
forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the 
floods have I sent forth. And behold, I prepare 
you against these things : for howbeit, ye can- 
not cross this great deep, save I prepare ye 
against the waves of the sea, and the winds v>'hich 
have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. 
Therefore, w^hat will ye that I should prepare for 
you, that ye may have light, when ye are swallowed 
up in the depths of the sea ? 

"And it came to pass that the brother of Jared. 
(now the number of the vessels which had been 
prepared was eight,) went forth unto the mount, 
which they called the mount Shelem, because of its 
exceeding height, and did moulten out of a rock 
sixteen small stones ; and they were white and clear, 
even as transparent glass ; and he did carry them 
in his hands upon top of the mount, and cried again 
unto the Lord, saying, O Lord, thou hast said that 
we must be encompassed about by the floods ; . . . 
but behold these things which I have moulten out 
of the rock. And I know, O Lord, that thou hast 
all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the 
benefit of man ; therefore touch these stones, O 
Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they 
may shine forth in darkness ; and they shall shine 
forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, 
that we may have light while we shall cross the sea. 
Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know 
that thou art able to shew forth great power, which 
looks small unto the understanding of men. And 
it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had 
said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth 



88 " THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYRA. 

liis hand and touched the stones, one by one, with 
his finger ; and the veil was taken oiF tlie eyes of tlie 
brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the 
Lord ; . . . 

' ' For it came to pass after that the Lord had pre- 
pared the stones which the brother of Jared had 
carried up into the mount, the brother of Jared 
came down out of the mount, and he did put forth 
the stones into the vessels which were prepared, 
one in each end thereof; and behold, they did give 
light unto the vessels thereof. And thus the Lord 
caused the stones to shine in darkness, to give light 
unto men, women and children, that they might 
not cross the great waters in darkness. 

"And it came to pass that when they had prepared 
all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist 
upon the water, and also food for their flocks and 
herds, and whatsoever beast, or animal, or fowl, 
that they should carry with them : And it came to 
pass that when they had done all these things, they 
got aboard their vessels or barges, and set forth 
into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord 
their God. And it came to pass that the Lord 
caused that there should a furious wind blow upon 
the face of the waters, towards the promised land ; 
and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the 
sea before the wind. And it came to pass that they 
were many times buried in the depths of the sea, 
because of the mountain waves which broke upon 
them, and also the great and terrible tempests which 
were caused by the fierceness of the wind : 

««And it came to pass that when they were buried 
in the deep, there was no water that could hurt 
them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and 
also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah ; 
therefore, when they were encompassed about by 
many waters, they did cry unto the Lord, and He 
did bring them forth again upon the top of the 



EXAMINATION CONTINUED. 8^ 

waters. And it came to pass that the wind did 
never cease to blow towards the promised land, 
while they were upon the waters : and thus they 
were driven forth before the wind ; and they did 
sing praises unto the Lord ; }"ca, the brother of 
Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did 
thank and praise the Lord all the day long ; and 
when the night came, they did not cease to praise 
the Lord. And thus they were driven forth ; and 
no monster of the sea could break them, neither 
whale that could mar them ; and they did have 
light continually, whether it was above the water 
or under the water. And thus they were driven 
forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon 
the water, and they did land upon the shore of the 
promised land." 

The historian has not informed us how many 
persons composed the company in this remarkable 
voyage. There must have been several, though, 
to properly man each of the vessels. And let us 
pause to contemplate these eight wonderfully con- 
structed barges, on their adventurous voyages. All 
built alike — light like a fowl, long as a tree, tight 
like a dish ; all provided with holes in bottom and 
top, and lighted with those transparent stones which 
the sagacious brother of Jared ' ' did moulten " out 
of a rock. All laden, too, with <' whatsoever beast, 
or animal, or fowl, that they should carry with 
them," and with "all manner of food" necessary 
for a year's voj'^age. They start together before a 
furious wind, and after nearly a year, land together 
without so much as one being lost. No monster of the 



90 THE PBOPHET OF PAL3IYSA. 

deep hui-t them ; na whale marred them ! Some- 
times riding on top of the waves, sometimes en- 
gulfed beneath them, the ever-watchful brother of 
Jared is ready in one barge, plug in hand, to stop 
and unstop the holes, as occasion may require, to 
shut out the water, or to give his crew and passen- 
gers another sniff of air. Who performed that im- 
portant service in the remaining seven barges is not 
stated. 

These vessels, it will be observed, were provided 
with no propelling power, no steering apparatus, 
no compass. The instrument used by Xephi and 
his father, centuries after, had not yet been invented. 
But they did not need any of these things, for a 
furious wind blew steadily for the space of a year 
directly toward the promised land ! 

And now that these refugees from the Tower are 
safely landed on these shores, let us turn to page 
572 of the same book, and learn of some of the deeds 
of their descendants here. War seems to have 
been the main business and pastime of these people 
throufijh all the Ions; centuries of their existence in 
their western home. And when the}^ did fight, they 
fouoht to kill. Here is an account of one of the 
greatest battles ever fouoht since the world beofan, 
certainly the most sanguinary ever fought on this 
continent. Talk of the wars of Xapoleon, of the 
Caesars, of Alexander; talk of the battle of Water- 



_ EXAMINATION CONTINUED. 91 

loo, of Olmutz, of Sevastopol — they dwindle into 

insignificance when contrasted with the struggle 

between the two great heroes, Shiz and Coriantumr. 

They had already fought till Coriantumr computed a 

loss of *' two millions of mighty men, and also their 

wives and children." If Shiz had lost as many, the 

total number would not fall short of fifteen to 

twenty millions of souls. So they had now become 

highly incensed and prepared to go at it in earnest : 

**It came to pass that Ether did behold all the 
doings of the people ; and he beheld that the people 
which were for Coriantumr were gathered together 
to the army ot Coriantumr, and the people which 
were for Shiz were gathered together to the army 
of Shiz ; wherefore, they were for the space of four 
years gathering together the people, that they 
might get all which were upon the face of the land, 
and that they might receive all the strength which 
it were possible that they could receive. And it 
came to pass that when they were all gathered to- 
gether, every one to the army which he would, 
with their wives and their children ; both men, 
women, and children being armed with weapons of 
war, having shields, and breast-plates, and head- 
plates, and being clothed after the manner of war, 
they did march forth, one against another, to bat- 
tle ; and they fous^ht all that day, and conquered 
not." 

Men, women, and children, all armed and pan- 
oplied, going forth to battle ! And it proved to 
be a nine days' fight ; for «« on the morrow " they 
went at it again, and the next, and the next, to the 
sixth day, when, a count being made, it was found 



92 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

* ' they had all fallen by the sword, save it were 
fifty and two of the people of Coriantumr, and sixty 
and nine of the people of Shiz." Then another 
day's fight and another count. At the end of this 
day Shiz had thirty-two left and Coriantumr 
twenty-seven. The following da}^ it was fight and 
flight ; but "on the morrow," which was the ninth, 
after a fierce and day-long struggle, only the two 
gritty commanders were left to face each other. 
And they were about as good as dead, for Shiz 
fainted with the loss of blood, and Coriantumr was 
greatly exhausted. Savage fellows ! they should 
now have shaken hands, and given up the contest ; 
but no, for 

« * It came to pass that when Coriantumr had 
leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he 
smote off the head of Shiz. And it came to pass 
that after he had smote off the head of Shiz, that 
Shiz raised upon his hands and fell ; and after that 
he had struggled for breath, he died. And it came 
to pass that Coriantumr fell to the earth, and be- 
came as if he had no life." 

And Ether finished his record, and hid it in a 
way that the " people of Limhi did find it ; and it 
was buried again, and Joseph Smith, Junior, dug 
it up, and with it enlightened and saved the 
world"! 

Going back to Lehi and Xephi again : after 
they had ended the voyage in which the compass 



EXAMINATION CONTINUED. 93 

had rendered them such A^aluable service, and 
brought them to this land of promise, they found 
here 

<< Beasts in the forests of every kind, both the 
cow, and the ox, and the ass, and the horse, and 
the goat, and the wild goat, and all manner of wild 
animals, which were for the use of men." 

It is known that horses were introduced into 
America since its discovery by Europeans, and as 
to oxen, theT/ are not supposed to be indigenous in 
any country I In other parts of the work, sheep 
and swine are alluded to as being common here ; 
none of which, our historical writers agree, were 
here until after the discovery of the country by Co- 
lumbus. * ' Cureloms " and ' ' cumons " are also men- 
tioned ; they were probably here, and are not known 
to have existed anywhere else, and are now extinct. 

But with all its foolishness and glaring absurdi- 
ties, it will not do to say there is no good in this 
Booh of Mormon. There is in it a great deal of 
good doctrine, and precept, and instruction, and 
many sublime thoughts. But all, or nearly so, of 
these, are direct and palpable plagiarisms from 
the Scriptures and other works. The nonsense is 
original ; and the two are combined in such an un- 
skilful way, as to make it, as a whole, a piece of 
ridiculous absurdity. Besides numerous detached 
texts and phrases from the Bible, several whole 



94 THE PROPHET OF PAZ3IYPA. 

chapters are copied. A number of these chapters 

are from the Prophet Isaiah. On page S6, first 

edition, Xephi is made to say : 

' ' And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of 
Isaiah, for my soul delight eth in his words." 

Then he quotes continuously from the beginning 
of chapter second to the end of chapter fourteen, 
verhatira from the book of Isaiah. The inquiry nat- 
urally arises. How could Xephi, here in America, 
in the reign of Zedekiah, Eang of Judah, be able 
to quote from the writings of Isaiah in Jerusalem ? 
Ah ! we must not forget : the plates which Lehi's 
sons stole from Jerusalem, after murdering their 
owner, Laban, contained these prophecies of Isaiah, 
and those they had with them in America. But 
another difficulty arises : Laban's plates were writ- 
ten in Hebrew (or were they in " Reformed Egyp- 
tian?" — no matter) ; in either case is it not queer 
that when rendering them into English, they should 
happen to coincide, word for word, sentence by 
sentence, with the King James translation? Such 
a feat in translation was never before perfonned 
since the world began. Three hundred years ago 
a number of the learned men of Europe are set to 
work to translate the Holy Scriptures, fi-om the 
Hebrew, from the Greek, from any language in 
which they were to be found ; and they produce the 
version now commonly in use, and known as the 



EXAMINATION CONTINUED. 95 

King James version. In 1829-30 Joseph Smith 
translates certain of these chapters from what he 
calls the Keformed Egyptian tongue, on plates dug 
up from the ground in New York, where they had 
lain thirteen hundred years, themselves a translation 
from the Hebrew, and " lo and behold," these trans- 
lations perfectly correspond ! And yet there are 
thousands who see in this a strong proof of Joe 
Smith's divine mission ! 

Many pages might be written, filled with instances 
of the senseless, ridiculous, incongruous, and blas- 
phemous character of the work. But the foregoing 
are sufficient to show that such a work could never 
have been sent as a Message from God to man. 



96 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA, 



CHAPTER X. 

EEVIEW CONTINUED. 

Testeniony of Three Witnesses — Also of Eight Witnesses 
— " What More Need Be Said? " — Death to Behold the 
Plates — A Box of Brickbats — Testeviony Analyzed — 
Smith's ' ' Ipse Dixit " — Collusion or Deception — Testi- 
mony Invalid— Strang's Failure — Laban's Sword and 
Lehi's Directors. 

We have now shown this Booh of Mormon to 
be utterly valueless as a revelation to mankind ; to 
be puerile, absurd, inconsistent, false, and blas- 
phemous. It does not contain within its lids one 
known historical or scientific fact, one valuable 
religious or moral maxim, one elevating or en- 
nobling thought, not to be found elsewhere, pro- 
mulgated long before its framers had existence. 

Let us next consider the testimony and the means 
and methods by which it is attempted to palm it 
upon the world. The fact of its un worthiness alone, 
however, ought to be conclusive against it. The 
Almighty could not, by extraordinary or any other 
means, communicate to mankind an unworthy mes- 
sage. 

A story to be believed, must, 1, Be reasonable ; 
2, Must agree in its several parts; 3, Must com- 



lib: VIEW CONTINUED. 97 

port with well-known facts ; and, 4, Must keep 
nothing back. A departure from any of these is 
prima facie evidence of its falsity. This story, 
told by Smith and those who vouch for him, is a 
departure from all these conditions. His own testi- 
mony has been given in a previous chapter. It is 
attempted to be supported by that of eleven witnesses 
— three in one certificate, and eight in another. 
The three certify as follows : 

THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES. 

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, 
and people, unto whom this work shall come, that 
we, through the grace of God, the Father, and our 
Lord, Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which con- 
tain this record, which is a record of the people of 
Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, his brethren, and 
also of the people of Jared, which came from the 
tower of which hath been spoken ; and we also know 
that they have been translated by the gift and power 
of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us ; 
wherefore we know of a surety, that the work is 
true. And we also testify that we have seen the 
engravings which are upon the plates ; and they 
have been shown unto us by the power of God and 
not of man. And we declare with words of sober- 
ness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, 
and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we 
beheld and saw the plates and the engravings there- 
on ; and we know that it is by the grace of God, 
the Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, that we be- 
held and bear record that these things are true ; 
and it is marvellous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the 
voice of the Lord commanded us that w^e should 
bear record of it ; wherefore, to be obedient unto 



98 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

the commandments of God, we bear testimony of 
these things. And we know that if we are faithful 
in Christ, We shall rid our garments of the blood of 
all men, and be found spotless before the judgment 
seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in 
the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and 
to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one 
God. Amen. 

Oliver Cowdery, 
Da\td Whitmer, 
Martin Harris. 
(No date.) 

The reader Avill note the names of these three 
witnesses. Then follows : 

AND ALSO the TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES. 

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, 
and people, unto whom this work shall come, that 
Joseph Smith, Jr., the author and proprietor of 
this work, has shewn unto us the plates of which 
hath been spoken, which have the appearance of 
gold ; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith 
has translated, we did handle with our hands ; and 
we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which 
has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious 
workmanship. And thus we bear record, with 
words of soberness, that the said Smith has shewn 
unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of 
a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of 
which we have spoken. And we give our names 
unto the world to witness unto the world that which 
we have seen : and we lie not, God bearing witness 
of it. 

Christian Whitmer, Hiram Page, 
Jacob Whitmer, Joseph Smith, Sr., 

Peter Whitinier, Jr., Hyru3I Smith, 
John Whitmer, Samuel H. Smith. 

/'No date.) 




MARTIN HARRIS. 





>LIVER COWDERY. 



PaVID WHITMER. 



THE THREE WITNESSES. 



REVIEW CONTINUED, 99 

< * What more need be said ? " triumphantly ex- 
claims the editor of the Deseret N'eios, after quot- 
ing these testimonials. Much more may he said. 
The first inquiry one would be likely to make after 
reading them and hearing Smith's story for the first 
time, would be — Why should Smith resort to super- 
natural means to prove the truth of the story, when 
ample natural means were at hand ? A^Hi}^ should 
he call in the angels to convince the world that he 
had the plates, when it was only necessary to ex- 
hibit them openly to the people, to convince them? 
There were hundreds of people about Palmyra, and 
thousands in the near cities and towns, certainly 
quite as respectable and truth-loving as these eleven 
witnesses, who would have been glad to testify of 
the fact, without angels' aid, had they been allowed 
the opportunity. And they would as gladly have 
aided with their means, to have the plates properly 
translated and published, trusting to the common- 
sense of mankind to judge of their value. Yet he 
studiously avoided exhibiting them to any one, 
learned or unlearned, on the miserable pretence 
that it would be death for any one to behold them. 
Why did not the eleven fall dead at the terrible 
sight, instead of living, to be afterwards denounced 
as liars and scoundrels by the prophet, and '* given 
over to the buffetings of the Devil," ns the chiefest 
among them were ? Carefully shut in a box sind 



100 THE FBOPHET OF FALMYBA. 

covered with a cloth, was his mode of showing 
them to his associates. And the story is told about 
Palmyra, that two men, by a bold manoeuvre, did 
obtain a sight of what was beneath the cloth. They 
prevailed upon him to remove the lid of the box, 
when one of them, in his impetuosity, and remem- 
bering the death penalty, exclaimed, *'Egad, I'll 
see the critter, live or die ! " and snatching off the 
cloth, disclosed — a large brickbat ! And the 
sight didn't kill him, either. The testimony of 
these two men should have been added to the other 
testimonials. They saw it with their natural eyes, 
and their testimony could have been believed. 

To analyze the statements of these eleven wit- 
nesses : The first three assert that they (together 
apparently) were shown the plates containing the 
record ; that they had seen the engravings thereon ; 
that this hook is a correct translation thereof^ and 
that it is true. How dfd they know all this ? By 
the grace of God, and because an angel told them 
so. How did they know it was the voice of God 
and an angel ? Because Joseph Smith said so. How 
did Joseph Smith know? Because a messenger 
from heaven revealed it to him in a vision ; and 
because the prophets foretold, in this same record, 
that another Joseph should bring it to light, and 
that three witnesses should testify thereof! So all^ 
this array of testimony is based on his ijpse dixit 



BEYIEW CONTINUED 101 

alone; evidently so, also, from statements in his 
autobiography, and from more than one of his pre- 
tended revelations, to which we shall presently 
refer. The eight certify that the plates were shown 
them, not by an angel, but by Smith himself, and 
that they had handled and '* hefted " them — whether 
in a box and covered, they do not say — and further, 
that he was " author and proprietor" of the work. 
Those eleven must have been very ' ' knowing " 
men. 

These certificates are both evidently emanations 
from Smith's own mind — in the same style and 
partly in the same language. And one of them is 
subsequently altered, long after signature and after 
the publication of the book, to make it conform to 
the new claim that he was only the ' ' translator," 
and not the '< author and proprietor." 

Who are these eleven witnesses, and had they 
any incentives to make these testimonials ? Being 
without date, we must guess at the period they 
were written, but it was evidently after Smith had 
decided to make a book, and intended these testi- 
monials as aids to give it circulation. All of them, 
except Harris and Page, belonged to the two 
families of Smith and Whitmer — five of the latter 
and three of the former — Cowdery's wife being also 
a Whitmer. Nearly all of them had a pecuniary 
interest in the success of the venture. Cowdery 



r 



102 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA, 

and Harris had each been the amanuensis of the 
prophet during the translation, and the elder AYhit- 
mer had boarded him, and they were his creditors 
to that amount. Besides this, Harris had already 
given him fifty dollars, and was the capitalist to 
foot the printer's bill of three thousand dollars. 
The circumstances strongly suggest collusion, but 
it is unimportant whether they signed the papers 
knowing their falsity, or did so as the result of a 
too implicit reliance on Smith's word. 

Again, is it not a fair presumption that Mrs. 
Smith would have seen or known something positive 
about those plates, had there been any ? Yet numer- 
ous persons have testified that she always denied 
having seen them, and declared that she knew no 
more about them than others. She had seen and 
handled a box, said by her husband to contain 
them ; but had not taken interest enough to look 
into it. Can it be possible, under this state of 
facts, that Mrs. Emma Hale Smith believed that 
box contained golden plates worth thousands of 
dollars in value, and carried in living characters a 
message from heaven to earth, that was to work 
the redemption of mankind ; and that her husband 
was a chosen instrument in the hands of God to 
effect that redemption? No, it is no stretch of 
imagination to believe that Emma Smith went to 
her grave believing — not that Joseph Smith was a 



REVIEW CONTINUED. 103 

'* Prophet, Seer, and Revelator" — but that he was 
instead an arrant fraud and imposter. 

Mormon writers assert that the testimony of 
the eleven witnesses would be strong enough to 
substantiate the claim " in any court of justice on 
earth." So far from this being true, it is just such 
testimon}^ as would be thrown out of any court, in 
accordance with well established rules of evidence. 
Nor do the Mormons themselves always accept such 
testimony. James J. Strang, at a later day one of 
the faithful^ tried a similar game at Vorce, Wis- 
consin, but failed to obtain any considerable fol- 
lowing. His plates and translation were witnessed 
by four persons. Perhaps if he had introduced 
angels and fighting devils into his story, and another 
Urim and Thummim, and another assassin's sword, 
he might have gained the ears of more of his breth- 
ren. But he introduced only human witnesses and 
natural means, and failed. It is the marvellous 
and impossible only that can give credence in some 
minds. 

We have shown that the testimony of these 
eleven witnesses was but the ipse dixit of Smith 
himself. We will now turn to his book of revela- 
tions, the Doctrine and Covenants, and see what 
he says about it. In March, 1829, while this pre- 
tended translation was going forward, or about the 
time of its close, and the approach of the day when 



104 TBE PROPHET OF PAL3IYPA. 

the three thousand dollars must be forthcoming, 
Martin Harris very naturally became anxious for 
further evidence, and was brought to silence and 
obedience with the following revelation : 

"Behold,! say unto 3'Ou, that as my servant, 
Martin Harris, has desired a witness at my hand, 
that you, my servant, Joseph Smith, Jr., have got 
the plates of which you have testified and borne 
record that you have received of me ; and now, be- 
hold, this shall you say unto him. He who spake 
unto you said unto you, I, the Lord, am God, and 
have given these things unto you, my servant, 
Joseph Smith, Jr., and have commanded you that 
you should stand as a witness of these things, and 
I have caused you that you should enter into a 
covenant with me, that you should not show them 
except to those persons to whom I commanded 
you, and jo\x have no power over them except 
I grant it unto you. And you have a gift to 
translate the plates, etc. . . . And that he 
shall say unto the people of this generation, be- 
hold, I have seen the things which the Lord has 
shown unto Joseph Smith, Jr., and I know of a 
surety that they are true, for I have seen them ; 
for the}^ have been shown unto me by the power 
of God, and not of man." — Doc. and Cov.^ pp. GO- 
TO, Piano edition. 

The English of this is, in short, that Smith in- 
forms Harris that the Lord requires him to lie 
about having seen the plates, and it appears that 
he accepted the message, and did so. 

Again, same edition, page 89 ; 



HE VIEW CONTINUED, 105 

" Eevelation given to Oliver Coicdery^ David 
JV7iif7ne7\ and Martin Harris^ June, 1829, 
previous to their vieicing the plates containing 
the Boole of Mormon. 

«' Behold I say unto you, that you must rely upon 
my word, which, if you do with full purpose of 
heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also 
of the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim 
and Thummim, which were given to the brother of 
Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the 
Lord face to fece, and the miraculous directors 
which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness 
on the borders of the Eed Sea ; and it is hy your 
faith that you shall obtain a vieio of them, even by 
that faith which was had by the prophets of old." 

And they had faith, for did not Smith tell them 
they must have? And they did rely upon the 
Lord's word, for did not Smith tell them it was the 
word of the Lord ? And they did view the plates 
through faith, for Smith told them the Lord said 
that was the way it was to be done ; and after 
seeing them through faith, they must testify to 
their truth. Cei-tainly; these revelations explain 
the testimony of the eleven witnesses. *'"What 
more need be said ? " 

But why did not these three witnesses tell the 
whole story? The revelation promised them that 
they should see not only the plates, but the breast- 
plate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thum- 
mim, and Lehi's directors; yet they only tell of 
seeing the plates. 



106 THE FBOFHET OF FALMTBA. 

The instruments used by Jared and his brother, 
and by LeM, in crossing the sea, have heretofore 
been alluded to in these pages ; but the sword of 
Laban has not. This sword, it will be remembered 
by readers of the Booh of Mormon, belonged to 
Laban, a friend of Lehi, who remained at Jerusa- 
lem. After leaving that city and journepng some 
time in the wilderness, Lehi bethought him of some 
plates that Laban had, containing much genealogi- 
cal and other Jewish history, and he coveted them. 
So he sent his sons back to obtain them; but 
Laban refused to give them up, and the boys slew 
him with his own sword, and stealing the plates 
and the sword, made their way back unmolested to 
their kind-heaii:ed father. Those stolen plates, 
and that sword, with the stain of assassination on its 
blade, are a part of the relics which the Lord had 
handed down from father to son through many 
generations — to be dug out of Cumorah hill, and 
testified of by these three witnesses ; and they 
failed to do it at last I 



FTJItTHEB BEVEL ATIONS. 107 



CHAPTEE XI. 

FURTHER REVELATIONS AND LABORS. 

The World's Redemption at Hand — Harris Obstinate, 
BUT Yields — He Sees Money in It — Revelations Con- 
tinue — Church Discipline — Sidney Rigdon's Hand 
Manifest — A New Statement Concerning Him — 
Church Organized — Calvin Stoddard's Conversion — 
"Support" for the Prophet— No. 1 Provided for — 
The Elect Lady— Rigdon Converted— Takes High 
Rank — Parley P. Pratt — Zion Established — Fanatical 
Excesses — Smith and Cowdery Baptized. 

We have thus far seen the plates taken from 
their long repose in the hill of Cumorah, carried 
about in a box by the young prophet, after three 
years translated, their authenticity and truthfulness 
vouched for, and the copyright of a book obtained ; 
and now the work is ready to be issued for the 
redemption of the world. But it cost something 
in those days, as well as now, to print books ; and 
where was the money to come from to pay for the 
edition of five thousand copies, deemed necessary 
to begin with ? None of the Smiths and none of 
the Whitmers, with Cowdery and Page to help, 
were in a financial condition sufficiently prosperous 
to meet the requirement. Martin Harris was the 
only camel that was known to be able to carry the 



108 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

heavy burden ; but he was not yet quite willing to 
kneel down and receive the load. Yet he thought 
he could see money in the venture. He was told 
that the retail price for the book had been fixed by 
divine authority at $1.25 per copy, cheap enough 
for so valuable a message, and as everybody would 
be keen to purchase, there must be a fortune in the 
enterprise. He figured thus: "$1.25X5,000= 
$6,250 ; cost $3,000 ; profit $3,250, not taking into 
account the large sums to be obtained on future 
editions.* Still he hesitated and was rebellious; 
and to add to his own misgivings, he had at home 
a very heavy weight to hold him back, in the per- 
son of his more cautious wife. But the pro^^het 
was equal to the emergency, and brought forth the 
following to counteract the obstinacy of his dupe : 

"A Commandment of God, and not of man, to 
Martin Harris, given (Manchester, N. Y. , March, 
1830) by Him who is eternal." 

It was designed to be impressive, for Martin's 
aid must he secured. After rebuking and threaten- 
ing him severely for his disobedience and want of 
faith, section three reads as follows ; 

*'3. And again I command thee that thou shalt 
not covet thy neigbor's wife, nor seek thy neigh- 
bor's life. And again I command thee that thou 

* Of the many editions of the Book of Mormon yet pub- 
lished, no one ever heard of Martin Harris or his heirs receiv- 
ing any perquisites. So the venture proved to be not so great 
a speculation as he imagined. 



FUBTHEB BEYELATIONS. 109 

slialt not covet thine own property, hut impart it 
freely to tlie printing of the Booh of Mormon, which 
contains the truth and the word of God, which is 
my word to the gentiles, that soon it may go to the 
Jew, of whom the Lamanites are a remnant, that 
the}^ may believe the gospel, and look not for a 
Messiah to come, who has already come." 
He was then asked : 

*' Behold, canst thou read this without rejoicing 
and lifting up thy heart for gladness ? " ^-^* . 

Subsequent events proved that Mr. Harris had 
yet some misgivings as to the condition of his heart, 
yet he surrendered ; the farm was mortgaged, and 
the printing paid for. 

About this period several revelations were ob- 
tained, giving directions as to creed, church polity, 
and discipline. In these revelations the hand of 
Sidney Rigdon is conspicuously manifest, although 
Mormon chronology places his advent among them 
at some months' later period. This fact strongly 
confirms the belief that Mr. Eigdon was through 
the whole a prime actor and mover, behind the^ 
scenes, if not the real instigator. In such case, 
these church affairs must have been subsequently 
fixed up and ante-dated to suit the occasion. 

Mr. Tucker, in his work on Mormonism, men- 
tions a '' mysterious stranger " who was, on several 
occasions, seen about the Smith residence, during 
the days that the prophet and Cowdery were en- 
o;a£^ed in the translation. Of this we had not, until 



110 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

lately, been able to obtain any proof, but now have 
positive testimony on the subject. Under date of 
January 19, 1885, a gentleman of undoubted char- 
acter for veracity, now resident of a western state, 
but who was in the early days of Mormonism residing 
at Palmyra, and well acquainted with the Smith 
family, informs us that he saw said Rigdon there at 
three different dates : once in the spring of 1827, 
once in the fall of the same year, and again in the 
summer of 1828 ; that he was told b}^ a member of 
the Smith family that it was '' Sidney Eigdon, a 
friend of Joseph's from Pennsylvania." He also 
informs us that Oliver Cowdery came there from 
Kirtland, Ohio, in the summer of 1826, and in the 
autumn took a school in the district in which the 
Smiths lived ; that he came again the next year, 
and taking the school, taught about a week, when 
he resigned, and went to writing for the prophet. 

These statements concernino: Ri^don and Cow- 
dery throw a flood of light on the early histor}^ of 
the fraud, and they explain the dilemma which oc- 
curred during the translation and loss of the 116 
pages of manuscript by Martin's disobedience. 
Rigdon had to be consulted ; and he was in Ohio, 
several hundred miles away. Hence the seven 
months' interruption and delay. 

On April 6, 1830, the '' Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-Day Saints " was organized, with a mem- 



FUBTHEB REVELATION'S, 111 

bership of about thirty persons, says Smith ; and on 
that day Smith obtained a revelation investing him 
with the titles of '' Seer," '^Translator," '' Prophet," 
<* Apostle of Jesus Christ," and constituting him also 
an ' ' Elder in the Church . " And the sixth of April , 
not the first, as it should have been, has been the 
holy day of the Saints ever since, among all its 
branches ; and on that day annually the great Con- 
ference meetings are held. Among the thirty per- 
sons composing the original church, were all the 
Smiths, all the Whitmers, with Cowdery, and Har- 
ris, and Page, and Calvin Stoddard, whose wife was 
also a Smith. 

A ludicrous account of the conversion of Stod- 
dard is told by Hon. Stephen S. Harding, subse- 
quently a judge in Indiana, and at one time one of 
the many Governors of Utah Territory. Mr. 
Harding w^as a wild, fun -loving boy of eighteen 
about Palmyra, and knowing Stoddard's peculiari- 
ties, decided on a bit of sport. So, repairing to 
Stoddard's residence late one night, he awoke the 
sleeper by three raps upon the door, and then in a 
loud and solemn voice proclaimed : 

** Cal-vin Stod-dard ! Cal-vin Stod-dard ! the 
an-gel of the Lord com-mands that be-fore an-o-ther 
go-ing dow^n of the sun, thou shaltgo forth a-mong 
the peo-ple and preach the gos-pel of Ne-phi, or 
thy wife shall be a wid-ow, thy chil-dren or-phans, 
and thy ash-es scat-ter-ed to the four winds of 
heav-en," 



112 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

The result was rather more dramatic than the 
young scapegrace anticipated. He had no sooner 
closed, than he heard Stoddard out on the floor, in 
great excitement, promising obedience to the divine 
requirement ; and he was out the next morning 
among his associates, reporting how, amid the 
thunders of heaven, he had had a call to the new 
dispensation.* And it is believed that he remained 
faithful to the last ; he was with his people at K'au- 
voo, and died near that city. To the credit of 
young Harding, it may be added, that he afterwards 
endeavored to undo the evil he had done, by sug- 
gesting to Mr. Stoddard that it might have been a 
trick. But his efi'ort was of no avail ; the delusion 
was too strong to be overcome. 

In July, 1830, another church or two had been 
organized in the neighborhood ; and during that 
month Smith announced another revelation that 
they should support him, and promising them *'a 
cursing instead of a blessing," if they failed to com- 
ply. **for thou shalt devote all thy service to 
Zion." It also provided that no debt should be 
collected from him, for " whosoever shall goto law 
with thee, shall be cursed by the law." 

*'. . . And thou shalt take no purse, nor scrip, 
neither staves, neither two coats, for the Church 
shall give unto thee in the very hour what thou 

* Tucker's History, 



FURTHEB REVELATIONS. 113 

needest for food, and for raiment, and for shoes, 
and for money, and for scrip." 

Thus early was ^N'uimbee One provided for. 

Another revelation conciliates Emma, the wife, 
who still had her doubts ; doubts, which it is be- 
lieved, were never dispelled during her whole life- 
time. It called her the '< Elect Lady," and prom- 
ised her employment in compiling a book of hymns. 
One revelation, September, 1830, states that John 
the Baptist is sent to Smith and Cowdery to ordain 
them. In referring to the autobiography, we find 
the following blasphemous statement of that trans- 
action : 

< ' While we were thus employed [out in the 
woods praying] , prajdng and calling upon the Lord, 
a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of 
light, and having laid his hands upon us, he or- 
dained us, saying unto us, ' Upon you my fellow- 
servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the 
priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of 
the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of re- 
pentance, and of baptism by immersion, for the 
remission of sins, and this shall never again be 
taken from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer 
ao^ain an offerino- unto the Lord in riofhteousness.' 

(DC O 

. Accordingly we went and were baptized, 
I baptized him first, and afterwards he baptized me. 
. . . No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, 
than the Holy Grhost fell upon him. . . . And 
again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also 
had the spirit of prophecy, etc. . . . The mes- 
senger who visited us on this occasion, and con- 
ferred this priesthood upon us, said his name was 



114 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

John, the same that is called John the Baptist in 
the New Testament, and that he acted under the 
direction of Peter, James, and John, who held the 
keys of the priesthood of Melchizadeck, etc." — 
Twies and Seasons, vol. iii. 866, 

There was also a revelation, in September, to 
Oliver Cowdeiy, assigning him to the duty of 
preaching the gospel to the Lamanites. The same 
revelation announces that Smith shall be appointed to 
preside over the Conference about to be held ; but 
that fhe choice is to be made *' by the voice of it." 
Cowdery is supposed to have had some aspirations 
for the honor, but is thus forestalled. The revelation 
also requires Cowdery to take Hiram Page aside 
and tell him that those things which he (Page) 
'' hath written from that stone are not of me, and 
Satan deceiveth him." Page had become ambitious 
to be a seer also, and had supplied himself with a 
white stone for the purpose. Such a thing could 
not be permitted under the new dispensation. A 
month later another revelation came, commanding 
that Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba 
Peterson should accompany Cowdery to the conver- 
sion of the Lamanites. 

In obedience to this command, the four accord- 
ingly start to hunt up the Lamanites, those mod- 
ern Jewish- American Indians, to whom this new 
gospel is specially sent, but so far has never reached. 
It will be remembered that in 1830 there were still 



FURTIIEB BEVELATIONS. 115 

numbers of Indians in their own State of New 
York and other near points, yet these missionaries 
were deputed to the unsettled regions west of Mis- 
souri, in the then known Indian Territory, a thou- 
sand miles away. - On their way, under the guid- 
ance of Cowdery and Pratt, they v^qvq providentially 
brought to the home of Sidney Rigdon, at Mentor, 
Ohio. With difficulty they pressed upon him a ■ 
copy of the Xew Revelation, which he very de- 
cidedly, and more truthfully pronounced " a silly 
fabrication," a judgment, the correctness of which, 
it is believed, none knew better than he. But in 
a few days it converted him, and he became hence- 
forth a noted and talented leader among them, 
taking rank always as second in position. Cow- 
dery, the faithful scribe, the voluble Pratt, Harris, 
the banker, David Whitmer, and «' brother Hyrum " 
even, all had to stand aside and allow Rigdon the 
first place by the prophet's side. He was probably 
the best qualified to maintain that position. He 
had a fair education, and was a fluent speaker. He 
had been a disciple of Alexander Campbell, the 
brilliant founder of the sect then known in that 
region as ' ' New Lights," or ' ' Campbellites." There 
was a congregation atKirtland composed mostly, it 
is stated, of dissenters from other churches, and 
also from the Campbellites, who, having some no- 



116 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA, 

tions peculiar to themselves, had formed an inde- 
pendent organization. Of this church Mr. Rigdon 
was serving as pastor, when these emissaries to the 
Lamanites arrived. Many of these followed Rigdon. 

This accession at Kirtland greatly strengthened 
the band. Rigdon early repaired to Smith in New 
York, and received a revelation promising great 
things for him, and that he was to write, while 
Joseph was to prophesy. And soon, doubtless 
under the inspiration of the new convert, another 
revelation came, that they should "remove to the 
Ohio," where the headquarters of the sect — the 
' ' Zion " into which they were all to be gathered — 
was to be located, and which was to remain an 
everlasting inheritance. Pratt was a resident of 
Northern Ohio, and is said to have been on the 
canal in New York when he became converted to 
Mormonism. He had been a friend and follower 
of Rigdon. 

While Rigdon was gone to Palmyra, and Cow- 
dery and Pratt to the Lamanites on the Mis- 
souri border, these Ohio converts fell into many 
fanatical excesses, pretending to work miracles, 
heal the sick by laying on of hands, talk in un- 
known tongues, commune with spirits and with the 
Saviour, etc. Howe's Mormo7iism Unveiled gives 
a specimen of a written communication claimed by 




PAELEY P. PEATT. 



& ) 



FURTHER REVELATIONS. 117 

two of these fanatics to have been obtained from 
Jesus Christ, and signed by him thus : 

C Be ye always ready, ^ 

\ Be 3^e always ready, > When I shall call. 



Be ye always ready, 



My Seal: 







The command to establish the headquarters at 
Kirtland was soon felt in that little village and vicin- 
ity. As fast as they were made, proselytes were re- 
quired to remove thither, and of their substance con- 
tribute to the building up of Zion. In January, 1831 , 
this first hint of settling in Ohio was given, but in 
February and March several revelations followed, 
referring to the Zion and its place " hereafter to 
be appointed." 

In January we find two revelations, which, as 
specimens of the Lord's dealings with mankind 
(according to the New Dispensation) , are at least 
curious and worthy of a place here. James Covill 
was a convert in New York. For some reason 
not given, he wanted to go back east, a proposition 
which Smith did not sanction. After many threat- 
enings and promises, James was directed not to go 
to the east, "but thou art called to go to the 
Ohio." Covill, however, disobeyed, and did go 



118 THE PBOPIIET OF PALMYBA. 

east. The next revelation is to Joseph Smith, Jr., 
and Sidney Rigdon, and being short, is copied en- 
tire : 

'* Eea^elatiox ^0 Jb5ej9 A Smith, Ji\, and Sidney 
Rigdon, given January, 1831, explaining why 
James CoviJl obeyed not the revelation given 
unto him. 

"1. Behold, verily I say unto you, that the 
heart of my servant, James Covill, was right before 
me, for he covenanted with me that he would obey 
my word. And he received the word with glad- 
ness, but straightway Satan tempted him ; and the 
fear of persecution, and the cares of the world, 
caused him to reject the word ; wherefore he broke 
my covenant, and it remaineth with me now to do 
with him as seemeth me good. Amen." 

And that is the whole of it, amounting to this : 
that the Lord, fearing the prophet and his vice- 
gerent might be oifended with him for permitting 
Covill to act so, deemed it necessary to explain, 
showing that it was not his fault, but that Satan 
alone was to blame. Whether the explanation was 
received as satisfactory, we are left in doubt. These 
revelations are numbered sections 39 and 40, Doc- 
trine and Covenants, Piano Edition. 

Revelation 41 provides that " my servant, Joseph 
Smith, Jr., shall have a house built in which to 
live and translate." Sidney was left unprovided 
for, but " should live as seemeth him good." 
Many of the revelations of this period are promul- 
gated chiefly for the purpose of binding the faith- 



FUBTHEB BEVELATIOXS. 119 

fill into more complete subjection to the priestly 
power of these two men. And the plan was most 
wonderfully successful. Thus, daily and contin- 
ually, in less than two years from the ors^anization 
of that band, in charming irony miscalled a church, 
was being built up that terrible and gigantic des- 
potism, which to-day rules in Utah, and holds in 
abject servitude the bodies and souls of more than 
a hundred thousand human beings. 

One revelation, enumerating the duties of the 
brethren toward each other and the Church, pre- 
scribes that * ' if thou obtainest more than that 
which would be for thy support, thou shalt give it 
unto my store-house." Xo getting rich allowed; 
no provision for a rainy day, even ; all beyond 
what is needed for present support is to go to the 
Lord's store-house. And this is the beoinnino- of 
that stupendous tithing system, which, in Kirtland, 
in Missouri, in Illinois, and since in Utah, has 
ground from the property and labor of the faithful, 
the millions of treasure which have for half a century 
been lavished upon unfinished temples, and in 
pampering scores of priestly leaders. 

A revelation, dated March 7, 1831, looks toward 
the building of Zion in AVestern Missouri, though 
the exact location is not specified ; notwithstanding 
a former one had located it at Kirtland, and a 



120 THE FBOFHET OF PALMYBA, 

temple was already in process of erection there. 

Section 12 says : 

" Wherefore, I, the Lord, have said, gather ye 
out from the Eastern lands, assemble ye yourselves 
together, ye elders of my Church ; go ye forth into 
the Western countries, . . . gather up your 
riches that ye may purchase an inheritance which 
shall hereafter be appointed unto you, and it shall 
be called the New Jerusalem, a place of safety, a 
city of refuge, for the Saints of the most high God ; 
and the glory of the Lord shall be there, inasmuch, 
that the wicked will not come into it ; and it shall 
be called Zion. And there shall be gathered into 
it out of every nation under heaven," etc., etc. 

The projection of every temple — ^the first in Ohio, 

more than one in Missouri, that at Nauvoo, and the 

present rising one at Salt Lake — has been preceded 

by a revelation commanding it, and making for it 

similar promises to the foregoing. The firmest and 

most faithful believers in Smith's divine mission 

can scarcely affirm that any one of these prophecies 

has ever been fulfilled. 



STAKE FLANTIKG. 121 



CHAPTER Xn. 

STAKE PLANTING. 

Translation of the Scriptures — Reasons for it — Transla- 
tion Suspended — The First Hegira — Cowdery's Mis- 
sion A Failure — The Stake at Kirtland — Another in 
Missouri — Expedition Thither — Ezra Booth's Seces- 
sion— Zion Located— An Organ Established— The Ex- 
pulsion — A Crusade and Its Termination. 

Translation did not cease with the publication 
of the Booh of Mormon ; for while Sidney was so- 
journing with the prophet in New York, they were 
employed in the work of translating the New and 
Old Testaments. Although Rigdon is known to 
have assisted in this work, Number One always 
claimed the honor, and expected the emoluments 
thereof. Its title is : 

**The Holy Sceiptuees, Translated and Cor- 
rected by the Spirit of Revelation^ by Joseph 8mith^ 
Jr,, the Seer,'' 

The reasons given in the preface for this * * trans- 
lation," are '*that many plain and precious parts" 
have been taken away from the Bible : 

•'For behold, they have taken away horn the 
gospel of the Lamb, many parts which are plain 
and most precious ; and also many covenants of the 
Lord have been taken away ; and all this have they 



122 THE PBOPHET OF TALMYT.A. 

done, that they might pervert the right ways of the 
Lord ; that they might blind the eyes and harden 
the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, thou 
seest that after the book hath gone foith through 
the hands of the great and abominable church, that 
there are many plain and precious things taken 
away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb 
of God ; and after these plain and precious things 
were taken away, it goeth forth unto all the nations 
of the Gentiles." — -1 Book of JSfej)hi, iii. 40 — Booh 
of Mormon. 

We copy from the Piano edition, of 1867, issued 
and owned by Joseph Smith, I. L. Eogers, and 
Ebenezer Eobinson, Publishing Committee of the 
Reconstructed Church. The preface states that 
' ' this work is given to the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-Day Saints, and to the public, in pur- 
suance of the commxandment of God ; " that the 
manuscripts, at the prophet's death in 1844, '^ were 
left in the hands of his widow, where they remained 
until the spring of 1866," when they were delivered 
to the parties above-named, *'and are now pre- 
sented as they came into our hands." This work 
is claimed to have been done in fulfilment of a 
revelation given to Joseph Smith in June, 1830, 
from which the following is an extract. The Lord, 
in a long address to Moses, in his day, concludes : 

'* And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto 
you, concerning this earth upon which you stand ; 
and you shall write the things which I shall speak. 
And in a day when the children of men shall esteem 



STAKB PLANTING. 123 

my words as naught, and take many of them from 
the book which you shall write, behold I will raise 
up another like unto you, and they shall be had 
again among the children of men, among even as 
many as shall believe. 

' * These words were spoken unto Moses in the 
mount, the name of which shall not be known 
among the children of men, and now they are 
spoken unto you. Amen." 

And this is the authority for Joseph Smith's 
translation of the Holy Scriptures — translation and 
«« correction." Wherever the original is wrong, it 
is presumed he corrected it. But translated from 
what? From the original Hebrew and Greek in 
which they were written ? No ; but from the plain 
English version of King James's translators which 
was common in our prophet's time, and which any 
sensible school-boy could " translate " as well. The 
fact is, there is no translation about it, but it is a 
mere copying, with here and there a change to suit 
Rigdon's notions of theology. 

This translation is evidently a suggestion of 
Rigdon's. But on December 30, 1830, a revelation 
was announced, suspending the work "until ye 
shall go to the Ohio ; " and after strengthening up the 
churches, '* especially in Colesville," thay were to 
go to meet Cowdery on his return from the La- 
manites. 

So, about January 1, 1831, Rigdon returned to 
his home, and the prophet soon followed. The saints 



124 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

in New York were ordered by revelation to follow, 
which they did ; and this date may be regarded as 
the first Mormon Hegira. As was to be expected, 
Rio:don's conversion to the new faith caused much 
excitement in the community and regret among his 
old Campbellite friends ; and much controversy 
ensued. Subsequent Mormon publications show 
that from a friend he became an implacable enemy, 
and that he ever afterwards manifested a vindictive 
spirit toward them. 

Meanwhile Cowdery and his associates had found 
their way to the Missouri border ; but on attempt- 
ing to cross the line of the State into the Indian 
Territory, now Kansas, were stopped by Indian 
agents, under the law to prevent the whites from 
trespassing there. Our missionaries then returned 
to Independence, and remained during the winter. 
And the Lamanites have been without the gospel 
of Nephi unto this day. 

Most of the believers in New York and other 
places east, had, according to command, followed 
or preceded Smith and Rigdon to Kirtland — some 
of them to be very much disappointed at the state 
of afiairs there. The return of one of Cowdery' s 
associates, giving a glowing account of the richness 
and cheapness of the Missouri lands, gave a new 
turn to affairs, and it was determined to plant a 
colony there at an early day. Most of the disaf- 



STAKE FLAIsTlNG, 125 

fected, accompanied by influential, faithful ones, 
were selected for that purpose. In accordance with 
this determination, a revelation was soon forth- 
coming. The power of the prophet over his de- 
luded followers, even at this early day, is strongly 
manifested in connection with this revelation. It 
is dated June, 1831, and designates the followers 
by name, two by two, who are to take that jour- 
ney of a thousand miles, which many of them would 
be compelled to, and did, travel on foot. We give 
the order of their names, as stated in Piano edition, 
page 167 : 

** Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Eigdon, Lyman 
Wight and John Corrill, JohnMurdock and Hyrum 
Smith, Thomas B. Marsh and Ezra Thayre, Isaac 
Morley and Ezra Booth, Edward Partridge and 
Martin Harris (these last two were to go with 
Joseph and Sidney), David Whitmer and Harvey 
Whitlock, Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt, Solo- 
mon Hancock and Simeon Carter, Edson Fuller 
and Jacob Scott, Levi Hancock and Zebedee Col- 
trin, Reynolds Gaboon and Samuel H. Smith, 
Wheeler Baldwin and William Carter, Xewell 
Knight and Selah J. Griffin." 

Two others were sent eastward, in all thirty men 
— which must have included about one-third of the 
whole number of the male recruits. They were 
commanded to go by different routes, and to preach 
as they went, depending upon the people on the 
way for food and shelter. How many of these 



126 - THE PBOPHET OF PALMYEA. 

ever reached their destination is not known ; though 
it is believed most of them did. Many ta ere after- 
wards actors in the Missouri and Illinois troubles, 
and some have figured since conspicuously in Utah. 

Ezra Booth, one of the above-named, had for- 
merly been a minister in the Methodist Church. 
He was one of the number to take his staff in hand 
and travel all the way to Missouri on foot, such 
was his new-found zeal ; and having been a preacher 
before, he stopped and preached a number of times 
in the four States through which he passed. This 
labor somewhat tempered his zeal, however ; and 
he afterwards confessed that he could not preach 
with the same ' ' freedom " he had done before. 
Soon after reaching his journey's end, his eyes 
were opened to see the falsity and folly of the 
whole thing, and he left them ; apostalized, thus 
subjecting himself, along with Cowdery, Whitmer, 
Harris, and others, soon afterwards, to the ««buf- 
fetings of the Devil for a thousand years." 

Mr. Booth's account of his experiences in Mis- 
souri, and particularly of the tedious trip thither, 
is interesting, and was published in a N"orthern 
Ohio paper. We find it also in Howe's expose. 
Great things had been promised them when they 
shoulcl reach the border-land, among others that 
they would find a flourishing church there. They 



STAKE PLANTING, 127 

did find the church, says Mr. Booth, consisting of 
four women ! 

This determination to maintain two Zions — one 
in Kirtland and the other somewhere on the border, 
in proximity to the Lamanites, did not take definite 
shape until after the arrival of the leaders of the 
expedition. Travelling in carriages, and being 
well equipped for the journey, these leaders ar- 
rived on the border and met at Independence in 
July. So well pleased were they with the prospect 
and the appearance of the country, that a revela- 
tion, dated in Zion, in July (section 57, Piano 
edition), was obtained at once, declaring: 

"Hearken, O ye elders of my Church, saith the 
Lord your God, who have assembled yourselves 
together, according to my commandments, in this 
land which is the land of Missouri, which is the 
land which I have appointed and consecrated for 
the gathering of the saints : wherefore this is the 
land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion. 
And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will re- 
ceive wisdom, here is wisdom. Behold the place 
which is now called Lidependence, is the center 
place, and the spot for the temple is lying west- 
ward upon a lot which is not far from the court- 
house ; wherefore it is wisdom that the land should 
be purchased by the Saints ; and also every tract 
lying westward, even unto the line running directly 
between Jew and Gentile. And also every tract 
bordering by the prairies, inasmuch as my disciples 
are enabled to buy lands. Behold this is wisdom, 
uli;t they may obtain it for an everlasting in- 
heritance. ' 



128 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

The " everlasting" of this reveUitiou proved to 
be of very short duration. Early in August the 
temple lot was dedicated, the first Missouri con- 
ference was held, and soon afterwards the two 
leaders returned to Ohio. 

While in Missouri, it was decided to establish an 
organ at that place, and W. W. Phelps, who had 
been previously designated by revelation, was in- 
stalled as editor, assisted by Oliver Cowdery. Ac- 
cordingly the publication of The Mo7iiing and 
Evening Star was begun. Mr. Phelps was an 
enthusiast and something of a " crank " ; a fair 
writer, but unstable and unreliable in his conduct, 
and at times caused considerable trouble among the 
brethren. He went with the sect to Illinois, and 
afterwards to Salt Lake^ where he died, aged 
eighty years, in 1872. 

Before leaving Independence for Kirtland, the 
prophet and his co-laborer obtained a revelation 
for the guidance of the brethren in their absence. 
If any reader of these pages has believed that the 
despotism of to-day in Utah transcends that exer- 
cised by these two leaders in Missouri, in this sec- 
ond year of Mormonism, we refer him to this 
revelation, given August, 1831, and some others 
which follow. 

This division of the force into two Zions a thou- 
sand miles apart, proved to be a source of trouble 



STAKE PLANTING. 129 

to the leaders. They could not be present at each, 
to guide and hold in check the followers whose am- 
bition led them to be unruly. Martin Harris, 
whose money had insured the printing of the Booh 
of Mormon^ chafed under the indignities that were 
constantly heaped upon him ; Oliver Cowdery and 
David Whitmer, the two other members of the trio 
of testifiers to the divine origin of the Book of 
Mormon^ left without official superiors in Missouri, 
also transgressed in some way the behests of the 
prophet, and were anathematized. The same fate 
befel several others. Some of these subsequently 
relented and returned. Harris is believed to have 
been one of the latter, and to have died in the faith. 
Cowdery removed to Tiffin, Ohio, and settled in 
the practice of law, and became a prominent Demo- 
cratic politician. He died in Missouri, as is claimed 
by Mormon authority, while on his way to Salt 
Lake, to again unite his fortune with the sect he 
had for so many years deserted. Whitmer was 
still living in 1887, near the deserted Missouri 
Zion, but occupying in his old age an anomalous 
position : that of maintaining the correctness of his 
early testimony, while holding himself aloof from 
the sect, and characterizing the prophet and his 
vicegerent as bad men, and organizers of the 
*' Danite Band," or " Destroying Angels." 

The years 1832, 1833, and 1834, were periods 



130 THE PROPHET OF PALMTBA. 

of great activity, mach strife, and some apostasy, 
in each of the two Zions, and the two leaders were 
kept busy in controlling the discordant elements. 
The Stake at Independence grew amazingly ; lands 
and town-lots were taken, improved, and built upon. 
But there, as everywhere else, before and since, 
the presence of these people was obnoxious to their 
neighbors, and discontent and quarrels arose, and 
finally resulted in open violence. On the 20th of 
July, 1833, a mob assembled and destroyed the 
office of the Star newspaper, and maltreated its 
editor, and others of the brethren. Soon after- 
wards a public meeting of citizens was held, and 
an order passed that the Mormons should leave 
Jackson County. Governor Dunklin was appealed 
to for protection, but he declined to interfere, and 
in November a battle took place, and the result 
was that the Mormons were compelled to leave, 
and the majority of them took refuge in adjoining 
counties. Why it is that these people have always 
excited hostility against them, in every one of the 
five or six communities in which they have at- 
tempted to build their Zion, is a problem the writer 
Avill not stop here to discuss — preferring to state 
the facts, and leave the reader to solve the ques- 
tion in his own way. 

In due time the Star was revived under the title 



STAKE PLANTING. 131 

of The Latter-Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, 
but located at Kirtland. 

These Jackson County troubles and the expul- 
sion of the brethren, caused great excitement among 
them everywhere. At headquarters in Kirtland, 
the wild project was entertained to organize an 
armed force, raid Jackson County, and compel 
the "Border Ruffians" to restore the refugees to 
their homes and their inheritances. Accordingly 
a revelation came, dated February, 1834, com- 
manding Baueak Ale* to organize the brethren 
" to go up to Zion by tens, or b}^ twenties, or by 
fifties, or by an hundred, until they have obtained 
to the number of five hundred of the strength of 
my house." But if they cannot get five hundred, 
* ' peradventure you may obtain three hundred;'* 
and if not three hundred, then one hundred — *' but 
a commandment I give unto you, that you shall 
not go up unto the land of Zion," until you have 
obtained one hundred of the strength of my house, 
to go up with you unto the land of Zion." 

So, in obedience to command and to promise that 
Zion should be restored, on the 7th of May, this 
company of armed crusaders, numbering one hun- 
dred and thirty men, set out from Kirtland on this 
march of a thousand miles. In about forty days, 

* BoAirak Ale seems to have been a name substituted fov 
Joseph Smith, as he commanded the expedition. 



132 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

travel they reached Clay Count}^, where some of 
their friends had taken refuge, with a force in- 
creased to over two hundred men. A company of 
the enemy, advised of their approach, had been col- 
lected, and were in camp ready to meet them. But 
Providence interfered to prevent carnage. A violent 
storm arose and broke up the camp of the Mis- 
souri ans, who retired to their homes ; and a few 
days afterwards the cholera broke out in Baurak 
Ale's camp with great virulence, and in a week 
near one-third of the number were dead or dying. 
And thus terminated the expedition, which set out 
at great sacrifice and under high hopes and promises 
of divine aid. 

And in a short time Joseph and Sidney, with a 
portion of their followers, returnecl to Kirtland. 



AN ANTI-BANKING BANK. 133 



CHAPTER Xm. 

AN ANTI-BANKIXa BANK. 

RiGDON President axd Smith Cashier — Notes Issued— No 
Redemption — Pittsburgh Baxi^ers — Bank Breaks — 
Flight of Its Officers — The Kirtland Stake Aban- 
doned. 

In 1836 a company was organized at Kirtland, 

called the '' Kirtland Safety Society," the purpose 

of which was not well defined. But in January of 

the following year a meeting was held, and the old 

constitution annulled, and new articles of agreement 

entered into. The title of the company was now 

changed to '* Kirtland Safety Society ^n^z-Banking 

Company." Its purpose was stated to be : 

" . . for the promotion of our temporal in- 
terests, and for the better management of our differ- 
ent occupations, which consist in agriculture, me- 
chanical arts and merchandising." 

Its officers were a board of thirty-two managers, 

a treasurer, and a secretary. The capital stock was 

declared to be ' ' not less " than four millions of 

dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each. 

The pay of the managers was fixed at one dollar 

per day, while actually employed, and of the other 

two officers such sum as the managers should decide. 

A dividend was to be declared every six months by 



134 THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYBA, 

the treasurer. First instalments were to be paid at 
time of subscribing, and future instalments from 
time to time, as called b}^ the managers, after thirty 
days' notice ; but all subscribers residing out of the 
State were required to pay fifty per cent, of sub- 
scriptions in advance. The following characteristic 
notice gwen by the prophet is important, as show- 
ing the purpose of the organization : 

* ' In connexion with the above articles of agree- 
ment, of the Kirtland Safety Society, I beg leave to 
make a few remarks to all those who are preparing 
themselves, and appointing their wise men, for the 
purpose of building up Zion and her Stakes. It is 
wisdom, and according to the mind of the Holy 
Spirit, that you should call at Kirtland, and re- 
ceive counsel and instruction upon those principles 
that are necessary to further the great work of the 
Lord, and to establish the children of the Kingdom, 
according to the oracles of God, as they are had 
among us. And, further, we invite the brethren 
from abroad to call on us, and take stock in our 
Safety Society. . . ." — Messenger and Advocate, 
January, 1837. 

Yet the purpose seems to have been changed two 
months later ; for in the jMarch issue of the Advo- 
cate we find the articles of agreement republished 
under the title of ' ' Kirtland Safety Society Bank- 
ing Company," with *' managers" changed to *' di- 
rectors," and '* treasurer and secretary" changed to 
" president and cashier." To these articles are 
signed one hundred and eighty-seven names, among 
them Smith and Rigdon, the father and mother of 



AN ANTI-BANKING BANK, 135 

the former and the wife of the latter. The amount 
of stock taken does not appear ; but the " Kirtland 
Safety Society Bank" was established, with Joseph 
Smith, Jr., as cashier, and Sidney Eigdon, presi- 
dent, on how sa/e a basis will appear from what 
followed. In the July issue of the Advocate is a 
long, twelve-column editorial announcing the dis- 
aster of its failure, and throwing the blame upon 
the outside world and the enemies of the Saints. 
But the coolest publication, perhaps, ever made by 
an officer of a bank, since the world began, is the 
following, which we copy from the August number 
of the Messenge7^ and Advocate : 

' ' Cautiox — To the brethren and friends of the 
Church of Latter-Day Saints, I am disposed to say 
a word relative to the bills of the Kirtland Safety 
Society Bank. I hereby warn them to beware of 
speculators, renegades and gamblers, who are 
duping the unsuspecting and the unwary, by palm- 
ing upon them, those bills, which are of no worth, 
here. I discountenance and disapprove of any and 
all such practices. I know them to be detrimental 
to the best interests of Society, as well as to the 
principles of religion. 

*' Joseph Smith, Jun." 

Of course, such a bank was bound to fail. But 
for a time its handsomely executed notes circulated 
freely among the members of the company ; and as 
the prophet and his chief counsellor w^ere its execu- 
tive officers, and the bishops, priests, and elders in 
and about Kirtland were all stockholders, the notes 



136 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

gained a considerable circulation abroad, among 
converts to the faith, and to some extent with the 
Gentile community. Some thousands of them, in 
due course of business, came into possession of 
Pittsburgh bankers ; and as these had reason to be 
distrustful of the condition of a moneyed institution 
run by prophecy, an agent was sent to Kirtland 
with a package of these notes for redemption. 
Arriving there, he was coolly informed by President 
Rigdon that he was an enem^^, a wolf in sheep's 
clothing, that the bank redeemed nothing, that the 
notes were put out to afford a circulating medium 
for the people, and that the Pittsburgh bankers had 
not been asked to take them. The agent returned 
home a wiser man. 

All confidence in the bank being destroyed, much 
suffering and loss resulted, chiefly among the 
brethren themselves. Many new converts from 
abroad, having been called in by the prophet to 
** receive counsel," had taken stock and paid fifty 
per cent, on it, which was sunk. Great excitement 
grew out of these transactions. Legal proceedings 
were being instituted ; and under cover of darkness, 
on the night of January 12, 1838, the prophet and 
his chief counsellor, cashier and president of the bank, 
left Kirtland in great haste (not for Canada) , never 
to return, pursued, but not overtaken, by officers, 
*' mobocrats," as they were termed by the refugees. 



4iV^ ANTI-BANKING BANK. 137 

If honesty and fair dealing, and redemption of 
notes when presented, are the proper attributes of 
legitimate banking, then the title of ** Anti-Banking 
Bank," as first given this institution, would seem to 
have been a very proper one. 

And the " stake " at Kirtland was henceforth 
abandoned, never to be resumed during the lifetime 
of the prophet. The title to the Temple has since, 
however, been acquired by the " Reconstructed " 
branch of the sect, and still remains in their hands. 



138 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

rUETHER STAKE PLAXTIXG APOSTASY AIs'D PUKESH- 

MEXT. 

Oda3i-Oxdi-Ahmox — F-iE West — Axd Others — Apostasy 
Shows Its Head— Its J'uxishiment— The Daxetes — War 
AXD Violence— Mobs axd Baxeskment. 

The flight of the two leaders from Kirtland was 
a disaster to that stake from which it never re- 
covered. It was now determined to locate a new 
Zion in Missouri, not in Jackson County, but at a 
place called Spring Hill, on Grand Kiver. To this 
the followers were called, and, as on other oc- 
casions, they obeyed; those still located at Kirt- 
land, deserting their unfinished temple, left and 
wended their way to the border-land. Smith and 
Rigdon were there before them ; so was also 
Brigham Young — ^he having left in haste a few days 
before his chiefs. Many of the refugees from Jack- 
son had settled in Clay County, and had for three 
or four years been permitted to occupy the ground 
in comparative peace. 

This Spring Hill settlement was re-named Odam- 
Ondi-Ahmon by revelation ; and here the faithful 
began to settle in great numbers. The place was 



FVBTHER STAKE PLANTING. 139 

in Daviess County, and about twenty miles from 
Far West, the county seat of Caldwell. Far West 
and considerable of Caldwell were also taken pos- 
session of by them. But trouble was in store for 
the chiefs. During their absence at Kirtland, apos- 
tasy had dared to raise its head in more than one 
of the border camps ; and to meet and subdue this 
insubordination caused them almost as great trouble 
as did the ' ' border ruffian " element by which they 
were surrounded. To meet the case, and to bring 
the discontents to subjection, a secret band, first 
called the ''Daughters of Zion," then the ''De- 
stroying Angels," and afterwards known as the 
" Danite Band," was instituted. That organiza- 
tion was under the control of Smith and Eigdon, 
and was in existence through the remainder of their 
sojourn in Missouri, and in Illinois, and has since 
been an active agent for Brigham Young in Utah. 
The Mormons have always denied the existence of 
such a band ; treating the charge as a fabrication 
of the enemy. Many writers, and perhaps a large 
portion of the reading public, have had doubts 
concerning it ; but the fact is as susceptible of 
proof as any other dependent on human testimony. 
We have already quoted in a previous chapter 
the statement lately made by the venerable David 
Whitmer. What follows is strongly confirmatory 
of his story — given at far distant periods and under 



140 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

difierent circumstances. In 1841, after the settle- 
ment at Nauvoo, William Harris, a dissenter, is- 
sued at Warsaw, Illinois, a pamphlet entitled, 
Mormonis7n Portrayed^ from which is cut the fol- 
lowing extract : 

" Shortly after this the Danite Society was or- 
ganized, the object of which at first was to drive 
the dissenters out of the county. The members of 
this society were bound together by an oath and 
covenant, with the penalty of death attached to a 
breach, to defend the Presidency and each other, 
unto death — right or wrong. They had their secret 
signs, by which they knew^ each other, either by 
day or night ; and were divided into bands of tens 
and fifties, with a captain over each band, and a 
general over the whole. After this body was 
fomied, notice was given to several of the dis- 
senters to leave the county, and they were threat- 
ened severely in case of disobedience. The efiect 
of this was, that many of the dissenters left — 
amongst these were David Whitmer, John Whit- 
mer, Hiram Page, and Oliver Cowdery, all wit- 
nesses to the Booh of Mormon; also Lyman John- 
son, one of the twelve apostles. The day after 
John Whitmer left his house in Far West, it was 
taken possession of by Sidney Eigdon. About 
this time Eigdon preached his famous * Salt Ser- 
mon.' The text was, ' Ye are the salt of the 
earth, but if the salt have lost its savour, where- 
with shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good for 
nothing:, but to be cast out, and be trodden under 
foot of men.' He informed the Mormons that the 
church was the salt ; that dissenters were the salt 
that had lost its savor, and they were literally to 
be trodden under the feet of the church, until their 
bowels should be gushed out." 



FURTHER STAKE PLANTING. 141 

The testimony taken on the trial of Smith and 
others for high treason, before the Judge of the 
Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Mis- 
souri, was subsequently published by order of the 
United States Senate. In it we find the testmiony 
of Dr. Sampson Avard, who claimed to be an ofllcer 
and influential member of the Danite band. Sworn 
and examined for the State, he said : 

*< That about four months since, a band, called 
the Daughters of Zion (since called the Danite 
Band) was formed of the members of the Mormon 
church, the original object of which was to drive 
from the County of Caldwell all those who dissented 
from the Mormon church ; in which they succeeded 
admirably, and to the satisfaction of those con- 
cerned. I consider Joseph Smith, Jr., as the 
prime mover and organizer of this Danite band. 
The officers of the band, according to their grades, 
were brought before him at a school-house, to- 
gether with Hyrum Smith and Sidney Eigdon ; the 
three composing the first presidency of the whole 
church. Joseph Smith, Jr., blessed them, and 
prophesied over them : declaring that they should 
be the means, in the hands of God, of bringing forth 
the millennial kingdom. It was stated by Joseph 
Smith, Jr., that it was necessary this band should 
be bound together by a covenant, and those who 
revealed the secrets of the society should l)e put to 
death. The covenant taken by all the Danite band 
was as follows, to wit : They declared, holding up 
their rio^ht hands, ' In the name of Jesus Christ, 
the Son of Grod, I do solemnly obligate myself ever 
to conceal, and never to reveal, the secret purposes 
of this society, called the Daughters of Zion. 
Should I ever do the same, I hold my life as the 



142 TITE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

forfeiture.' The prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., to- 
gether with his two counsellors (Hyrum Smith and 
Sidney Eigdon) , were considered the supreme head 
of the church ; and the Danite band feel themselves 
as much bound to obey them, as to obey the Su- 
preme God." 

This witness further states that in June, 1838, 
Sidney Rigdon drew up a paper addressed to these 
five dissenters, warning them to leave the county 
in three days, and threatening them with swift 
punishment if they disobeyed. It charged them 
with all manner of meanness, calling them con- 
sorters with counterfeiters, thieves, liars, and 
black-legs ; with trying to cheat the Saints out of 
their property, and, greatest of all, with disobe- 
dience. This document was signed by eighty-four 
members. The warned knew what such threats 
meant, and, as Whitmer says, they " fled for their 
lives to Clay County." 

W. W. Phelps also testified to the existence of 
this Danite band and its purposes. 

The existence of such an organization is also 
testified to by John Hyde, a seceder at Salt Lake 
City. Hyde was for a long time an active and 
talented elder of the church in Missouri, in Illinois, 
and in Utah ; but apostatizing, wrote a work on 
Mormonism. In his book, Mormonism, Its Lead- 
ers and Designs, he states that in Missouri in 1838, 
*« a death society" was formed, under the direction 



FUBTHEB STAKE PLANTING. 143 

of Sidney Kigdon ; that its first captain was known 
as "Captain Fearnaught" (David Patten, one of 
the twelve apostles), and that its purpose was " to 
punish the obnoxious." 

They were at some trouble to find a suitable 
name for such an association. " Zion " being a 
term ever foremost in their thoughts, " Daughers 
of Zion " presented itself — ^Micah, iv. 13 : 

" Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion : for I 
will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs 
brass ; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people ; 
and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and 
their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." 

This was appropriate except as to sex, and the 

society began its work under that name. It was 

soon dropped, and another resort to the Bible 

made; when, " lo, and behold," ** and it came to 

pass," Genesis xlix. 17, supplied a title quite as 

significant, and more to their liking : 

" Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder 
in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that 
his rider shall fall backward." 

Elder Hyde continues : 

" ' The sons of Dan ' was the style they adopted, 
and many have been the times that they have been 
adders in the path, and many a man has fallen 

BACKWARD, AND HAS BEEN SEEN NO MORE ! " 

Can that be true? Much other testimony, and 
scores of corroborating circumstances, render the 
conclusion irresistible. But notwithstanding the 



Ui THE PBOFHET OF FALMYHA. 

direct charges and tlie circumstantial evidences, 
many still refused to believe ; and perhaps to-day 
it is the conviction of great numbers of people, 
that the story is only the idle invention of enemies 
and persecutors. It is hard to believe that those 
apostatizing Mormons would so long uphold and 
sustain a sj^stem so monstrous, until the day of 
their withdrawal, and then loudly denounce it — 
knowing that they were thus proclaiming their own 
dishonor. 

Brigham Young, more daring than the rest, in 
one of his characteristic harangues, quoted in the 
Deseret JSFeios, vol. vii., page 143 (as given by 
Hyde) , said : 

' ' If men come here and do not behave them- 
selves, they will not only find the Danites, whom 
they talk so much about, biting the horse's heels, 
but the scoundrels will find something biting their 
heels. In ni}^ plain remarks, I merely call things 
by their own names." 

Much more might be quoted from Brigham 
Young and many others, to prove the existence of 
this band of cut-throats, and for the purposes 
named, and to show that it was instituted by the 
heads of the church and controlled by them, but 
the foregoing is sufficient. 

But we cannot linger over these constantly re- 
curring dissensions in Missouri. Ever arrogantly 
claiming to be the Saints of God, entitled to pos- 



FURTHEB STAKE PLANTING. 145 

sess the land, and crying out against "persecu- 
tion," these leaders and their band of missionaries 
made converts everywhere they attempted to phmt 
a stake ; at the same time making enemies of the 
great majority of unbelievers. In addition to this, 
they had numbers of agents abroad, through the 
States and in Europe, preaching the doctrines of 
the Xew Dispensation to the discontented, the 
hopeful, and the fanatical, and bidding them flee to 
Zion and enjoy its benefits and partake of its glories. 
They planted stakes or proclaimed a Zion succes- 
sively in Jackson County, in Clay, in Caldwell, in 
Ray, in Daviess, in Carroll — all with the same re- 
sult. The power of the State was frequently ap- 
pealed to for protection or aid by one party or the 
other ; until at length, Governor Lilburn W. 
Boggs, unable or unwilling to cope with the diffi- 
cult}^ issued an order expelling them from the State. 
In the early part of the autumn of 1838, the last 
disturbance occurred, which resulted in the arrest 
and imprisonment of the two leaders and several of 
their principal adherents, and the extermination of 
most of the remainder. These made their way 
across the State to Illinois, in very inclement 
weather, and with much privation and suffering. 
Kigdon was set at liberty by Habeas Corpus * and 

* It will be seen hereafter, that these writs of Habeas 
Corpus played a conspicuous part in Mormon affairs in Illinois, 



UG THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

after some months' confinement, Smith made his 
escape, it was said, by the connivance of the sheriff 
who had him in charge, the authorities probably- 
deeming this the easiest way of disposing of a 
troublesome case. 

That Governor Boggs's order of banishment was 
illegal and contrary to the spirit of our institutions — 
as are all such, whether emanating from executives 
courts, or mobs — cannot be controverted. Mr. 
William Harris adds, and with this extract we take 
leave of the Mormon difficulties in Northern Mis- 
souri : 

" Of this Missouri war, as it has been called, a 
great deal has been said, and public opinion at the 
time generally censured the conduct of Missouri. 
That the Missourians carried the matter too far, 
and treated the Mormons with an unnecessary 
degree of cruelty, in many instances, there can be 
no doubt ; but that there was great cause of aggra- 
vation, there can be just as little. The truth is, 
that while the Mormon body, as a church, interferes 
with the pecuniary and political acts of its mem- 
bers — assuming the sole direction of both — it will 
be impossible for them to live in peace in any com- 
munity. The necessary consequence of their re- 
garding the words of Smith as the words of the 
Lord, is, that he can unite them whenever it may 
be necessary to effect his purposes. This, prob- 
ably, would produce no jealousy, if his acts were 
confined to ecclesiastical government ; but when 
they extend to controlling the political and pecun- 
iary interests of his followers, it must inevitably 
produce distrust and enmity. Such a community. 



VUBTHEB STAKE PLANTING. 147 

thus united, hold the rights of the neighboring 
citizens in their own hands ; and in every contest 
they must come oiF victors. They have a capacity 
for secrecy, which enables them to commit any act 
of depredation, without the fear of detection ; and 
when a crime has been committed by one of them, 
they are so united to each others' interests, as to 
render it almost impossible, through a legal for- 
mula, to obtain a conviction. Is it any wonder, 
then, that a body thus controlled, their interests 
confined within themselves and inimical in nature 
to that of the other citizens, should excite jealousy? 
And when we consider the materials of which the 
church is made; the amount of ignorance, bigotry, 
and arrogance , that is displayed by its members ; 
is it at all surprising that an explosion should take 
place between them and those by whom they are 
surrounded? Xow, even admitting that the Mor- 
mons were honest, yet, taking all things into con- 
sideration, the Missourians acted in the commence- 
ment of the difficulties, as w^ould almost any com- 
munity in the country. I do not justif}^ their 
mobs ; on the contrary, I say that a mob is in no 
case justifiable ; but I do say, that as society is 
now constituted, mobs will arise, under certain 
circumstances, in any community. Let, then, those 
who have regarded the Missourians as a set of un- 
principled desperadoes, because of their conduct 
toward the Mormons, bethink them that the same 
scenes, under the same circumstances, would, in 
all probability, have been enacted in their own 
neighborhoods. It was not the mere religion of 
the Mormons that exasperated the Missourians ; it 
was their arrogance, their united purpose to pro- 
tect each other, and to infringe on the rights of 
other citizens ; their thefts and their concealments 
of each others' crimes ; these were all, under the 
circumstances, injuries without legal remedies ; and 



148 THE PBOPHET OF PAL3IYBA. 

although this does not justify a mob, 3'et there are 
few communities in this country, that would not, 
,if placed in the same situation, have been exas- 
perated to violence." 



ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI EASTWARD. 149 



CHAPTER XV. 

ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI EASTWARD. 

Exodus prom Missouri and First Appearance in Illinois 
—The Situation. 

One of the chief purposes of this work is to give 
an accurate and faithful history of Mormonism, as ' 
it existed during a period of about eight years in 
the State of Illinois. Such a history, the writer 
believes, has never been written. Governor Ford, 
in his History of Illinois, devotes considerable 
space to this era, embracing the time he occupied 
the executive chair. But his excellency, like the 
Governor of Missouri, found the Mormon problem 
too hard a one to handle ; and his work must be 
regarded as more a defense of his administration 
during the Mormon era, than an impartial history. 

The writer approaches this part of his task with 
more confidence, from the fact that before and dur- 
ing the Mormon sojourn, he was a citizen of the 
State, and intimately acquainted with many of the 
events as they transpired. 

Early in their career, claiming more than common 
sanctity, and in order to be more specially distin- 
guished trom the outside world, these people took 
upon themselves the title of *' Latter-Day Saints " ; 



150 THE PBOPHET OF PAL3IYJRA. 

and thereafter, in their estimation, there were but 
two classes of people : Saints and Gentiles. Those 
who accepted the Book of Mormon as of Divine 
origin, and regarded Joseph Smith with the rever- 
ence due to a '* Prophet, Seer, and Revelator," were 
counted under the former title ; while all who re- 
jected the Booh of Mormon, or were ignorant of its 
existence, whether Hebrew or Pagan, Christian, 
Brahman, or Mussulman, were Gentiles. 

When the scattered bands of these Latter-Day 
Saints first crossed the Mississippi from Missouri 
into Illinois, in the winter of 1838-9, they were 
poor and disheartened, and very many of them 
were objects of charity. Without money or suit- 
able means of conveyance, poorly clad, and many 
of them sick or infirm, they had been compelled, in 
the dead of winter, to leave their habitations in the 
northwest portion of the State, and make their way 
two hundred miles, to ask for shelter in a com- 
munity of strangers. Their troubles there, and this 
violent expulsion, had brought them into notice. 
Their stereotyped cry of < ' Persecution for Opin- 
ion's Sake," invented years before by their saga- 
cious leaders, and ever since their best paying 
capital, was generally believed by the Illinois peo- 
ple ; and when they crossed over the Mississippi at 
Quincy, they received the sympathies of the entire 
population. Public meetings were held ; resolu- 



ACBOSS THE 3£IS8ISSIPP1 EASTWABD. 151 

tions denunciatory of the ' ' border ruffians " passed ; 
money, clothing, and provisions were voted and 
donated, and such other material aid granted as 
their circumstances seemed to require. The citizens 
of Quincy did themselves honor in their treatment 
of these refugees. And afterwards, when they began 
to pass along up into Hancock County, adjoining, 
the same kindness and consideration were shown 
them. Their prophet, with several of his chief 
advisers, were still under arrest and in durance at 
Liberty, Mo., and most of their principal men were 
scattered abroad ; some back at Kirtland, others 
refugees from mob wrath in different directions, 
and still others absent as missionaries to the Gen- 
tile world. 

Such was the condition of the Mormon people, 
when they first became known to the people of 
Hancock County and adjoining communities in the 
State of Illinois. 

At the period mentioned, the whole northwestern 
portion of the State of Illinois was new and but 
sparsely settled. The extensive prairie region lying 
between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, had 
been but recently laid off into counties, and organ- 
ized into working communities. Here and there, 
in every county, county seats and other towns and 
villages were springing up, and the woody margins 
of the broad prairies were fast filling up with an 



152 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

enterprising, intelligent, and generous people, from 
many of the older States of the Union ; people of 
all shades of religions opinion ; people whose hab- 
itations were mostly log cabins and other wooden 
structures, but whose doors were ever open to the 
voice of the stranger. For want of church edifices, 
as in all new settlements, these difierent sects fre- 
quently occupied the same building, or worshipped 
in the open woods, without bickerings or strife ; 
and it is safe to say, that no communities in any 
part of the country, were less afflicted with religious 
bigotry or intolerance, than were those in Noi-tti- 
western Illinois. 

The point selected by the Mormons on which to 
locate their new Zion, is certainly one of the most 
beautiful and salubrious in the west. It lies at the 
head of the Lower, or Des Moines Rapids in the 
Mississippi, in a beautiful curve of the stream, and 
overlooking the broad river, its islands, and the 
Iowa bluffs and prairies beyond. Opposite to it, 
and embracing a third of Lee County, Iowa, and 
extending about twenty miles along the river, and 
back to the Des Moines, from its mouth northward, 
lies what was then known as the ' ' Half-Breed In- 
dian Reservation." These lands had recently be-r 
come objects of speculation and litigation, growing 
out of the ill-advised action of the general gov-r 
ernment regarding them . It had been the intentiou 



ACBOSS THE MISSISSIPPI EAS^TWARD, 163 

of the prophet to locate on the west side of the 
river, on these lands, having been invited thereto 
by Dr. Isaac Galland, who held some interest in 
the titles. He had called Smith's attention to 
them, while the latter was still in jail at Liberty ; 
and it was this correspondence, perhaps, that turned 
the tide of Mormon emigration to Hancock County. 
But after the chief's arrival among his followers, 
later, the project of settling in Iowa was abandoned, 
and it Avas decided to plant the new stake where 
Nauvoo now stands, in Illinois. 

At that point there was then a little village lo- 
cated on the shore, called Commerce, containing 
perhaps a half-dozen houses, a store, and a post- 
office. It was one of the oldest settled portions of 
the county. Just below w^as the farm of Hugh 
White, and just east, on the bluff, was that of Dan- 
iel H. Wells, later the noted Adjutant-General of 
Utah fame. These farms, with much other land, 
were soon encroached upon and absorbed by the 
growing city, whereupon Wells joined the church, 
became rich by the sale of his lands, was ever an 
active and violent partisan, and finally left with 
them for the wilderness. In Utah he has ever since 
stood high in authority, and is believed to be still 
living in the enjoyment of his honors, his fortune — 
and his wives ! — the legal wife refusing to accompany 



154 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

him because he would not agree to forego the 
pleasures of the harem m the new home. 

Opposite Commerce, in the then Territory of 
Iowa, stood the barracks of Fort Des Moines, but 
just vacated b}^ the United States Dragoons, and 
at the time occupied by a few settlers. Here, also, 
was located the office of the " Xew York Half- 
Breed Land Compan}^" Twelve miles below, at 
the foot of the rapids, and also on the Half-Breed 
lands, lay the village of Keokuk, named from a 
stately Indian chief of the Sac and Fox tribes, who 
frequented its environs with his dusky followers. 
Fort Madison, twelve miles up the river, had 
achieved the dignity of a county seat, and could 
count two or three hundred souls. 

In Hancock County (Illinois), eighteen mile.? 
below Commerce, lay Warsaw, with a population 
of about three hundred ; Carthage, the county seat, 
in the centre of the county, and on a broad prairie, 
had not so many; Augusta, St. Mary's, Plymouth, 
Fountain Green, La Harpe, Chili, and a few other 
villages, had been laid out (chiefly in 1836), and 
containing each a few families, were located in the 
midst of young and fast-growing settlements. There 
was no newspaper at any of these points, the near- 
est being at Quinc}^ and at Rushville, the county 
seats of Adams and Schuyler Counties, adjoining. 



ACBOSS THE MISSISSIPPI EASTWABD. 155 

The population of the county was about five thou- 
sand, located mainly in the border townships. 

Quincy, where the refugees had first reached the 
State, was fifty miles down the river from Com- 
merce. It was a thriving town of fifteen to 
eighteen hundred inhabitants, with two newspapers 
and a United States land office. It was also the 
residence of Hon. Thomas Carlin, Governor of the 
State, of Judge Eichard M. Young, of the Fifth 
Judicial District, and of several of the most prom- 
inent lawyers. 

We have been thus particular in describing the 
condition of the people and county, and location of 
its most important places, in order that the reader 
may have a better comprehension of the events to 
be narrated in the chapters to follow — events which 
brought trouble and disturbance where peace had 
reigned, and finally stained the rich soil of the 
prairies with the blood of the prophet and his 
brother and many of its other citizens. 



156 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA, 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT. 

Status in Illinois — The New City — Mission to Washing- 
ton — Governor Lucas's Letter — Great Church Con- 
ference — Mission to the Jews in Europe and Asia — 
Call to the Faithful. 

Such was the status of Hancock County (Illi- 
nois), and its people and neighborhood, when this 
Mormon immigration began in their midst. The 
rank and file continued to stream into Quincy, as a 
crossing place, from their late homes in Missouri, 
and thence into the near communities, during the 
whole spring of 1839 ; and as they arrived, they 
were received with open arms by the inhabitants. 
And as the spring and summer of that year passed, 
many of them made homes wherever there was an 
empty house in the city, or log cabin in the country, 
on farm or in village, fit to receive a family. They 
were thus soon located at different points all over 
Hancock, and to some extent through the adjoin- 
ing counties of Pike, Schuyler, McDonough, Hen- 
derson, and Warren. Their heaviest settlements 
in Hancock, after Nauvoo, were at La Harpe, Plym- 
outh, Macedonia, Green Plains, and Monte bello. 



IMMIGBATION AND SETTLEMENT. nl 

Active proselytism was immediately commenced 
in all the neighborhoods about home, and numer- 
ous missionaries were sent abroad to preach. Again 
the call, or more properly the command, was issued 
for the faithful to repair to Nauvoo, to aid in build- 
ing up the city. Nor was the requisite revelation 
wanting in aid of the new location. '< Thus sayeth 
the Lord," — as on so many former occasions — was 
again sent abroad, and again it was answered by 
an immigration greater than had responded to it on 
any former occasion. 

In September, 1839, the city of Nauvoo was 
laid out and named, its legal proprietors being 
Joseph Smith, Jr., Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, 
and George W. Robinson. Afterwards, down to 
May, 1843, as many as fifteen additions had been 
made to it, in several of which the prophet was in- 
terested, always with an eye single to his own ad- 
vantage. 

The name '* Nauvoo" was said by its projectors 
to be Hebrew for '* pleasant land." Whether this 
be true, we leave for linguists to determine, but 
the site is acknowledged on all hands to be one of 
the most pleasant and beautiful on the Mississippi 
River. It is presumed, however, that the prophet 
knew about as much of the Hebrew as he did of 
the ** Reformed Egyptian" (whatever that may 



158 THE PHOPHET OF PAL3fYBA. 

be), the language in which the message was written 
on the golden plates. 

While still in jail in Missouri, the prophet had 
written to the brethren at Commerce, suo^o^estino- 
that statistics of their pecuniary losses in that State 
should be collected, and presented to the United 
States government, in order to enforce future pay- 
ment. It soon began to be urged in all the Mor- 
mon settlements, that Missouri ^as bound to make 
full restitution, and that the authorities at Wash- 
ington would cause this to be done. During the 
autumn, the prophet, with Eigdon and Colonel 
Higbee, two of his chiefs, repaired to Washington 
to lay the matter before Congress and President 
Yan Buren. They carried with them a large num- 
ber of certificates, reciting these individual losses, 
made out and sworn to in due form, and with the 
official seal of the county attached. Hon. John T. 
Stuart, of Springfield, Whig member of Congress 
from the district, was given charge of the matter 
in the House of Representatives, and Henry Clay 
was asked to lay it before the Senate. They also 
made personal application to the President and to 
Senator Calhoun. The latter bluntly informed 
them that the general government had no authority 
in the premises, and thereby evoked their lasting 
displeasure. One of the houses made a special 
report, citing the main features of the case, and 



IMMIGBATION AND SETTLEMENT. 159 

declining to take fui*ther action ; and no redress 
was obtained, either through the action of Con- 
gress or the Executive. The chiefs returned to 
Nauvoo highly incensed against the administration 
and the nation in general. One of the great ob- 
jects sought had been attained, however — one con- 
sidered of great importance by them — namely, a 
national notoriety. 

Hon. Robert Lucas, a former Governor of Ohio, 
was at this time Governor of the Territory of 
Iowa. Previous to this embassy to Washington, 
he had been appealed to for a favorable testimonial, 
and he responded with the following : 

«* Iowa Territory, Jan. 4, 1840. 

**Sir: — You informed me that a committee of 
Mormons are about to apply to the Congress of the 
United States for an investigation on the cause of 
their expulsion from the State of Missouri, and to 
ask of the general government remuneration for 
the losses sustained by them in consequence of such 
expulsion, and ask me to state my opinion of the 
character and general conduct of those who have 
settled in the Territory of Iowa, since their ex- 
pulsion from the State of Missouri. 

' ' In compliance with your request, I will state that 
I have had but little personal acquaintance with 
them. I know that there was a community of them 
in the northern part of the State of Ohio, and while 
I resided in the State they were generally consid- 
ered an industrious, inoffensive people ; and I have 
no recollection of ever having heard in that State 
of their being charged with violating the laws of 
the country. 



160 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

" Since their expulsion from Missouri, ti portion 
of them, about one hundred families, have settled 
in Lee County, Iowa Territory, and are generally 
considered industrious, and worthy citizens. 
*' Very respectfully, yours, 

** RoBEET Lucas, 

** Gov. of Iowa Ter. 
*'To A. Eipley." 

It is clear that Governor Lucas had not resided 
in the northern section of Ohio. 

A great conference of the church was held at 
Nauvoo on the 6th of April, 1840, lasting three 
days, at which, it was said, there were several thou- 
sand persons present. Elated with the prospect 
before them, the members from far and near flocked 
to this annual church gathering; while many of 
the Gentile neighbors also attended through a 
curiosity to see and know of what stuff the prophet 
and his chiefs and followers were made. At this 
meeting, a large number of missionary appoint- 
ments were made ; among these. Elders Orson Hyde 
and John E. Page were commissioned to visit the 
Jews in Europe and at Constantinople and Jerusa- 
lem. An official greeting was made out and signed 
by President Smith and the clerk, which recites 
that : 

** We have by the counsel of the Holy Spirit ap- 
pointed Elder Orson Hyde [Page was added after- 
wards], the bearer of these presents, a faithful and 
worthy minister of Jesus Christ, to be our agent 
and representative in foreign lands, to visit the 



IMMIGBATION AND SETTLEMENT. 161 

cities of London, Amsterdam, Constantinople, and 
Jerusalem, and also other places that he may deem 
expedient, and converse with the priests, rulers, 
and elders of the Jews, and obtain from them all 
the information possible, and communicate the 
same to some principal paper for publication, that 
it may have a general circulation throughout the 
United States." 

This seems to have been not a proselyting mis- 
sion, but a mere voyage of discovery, perhaps to 
ascertain the best fields for missionary labor. In 
due time these elders returned, and reported through 
their own church organ, the Times and Seasons; 
but the promised * ' information " in some principal 
paper never came to light. The Jews of Europe 
and Jerusalem took little interest in the history of 
their brethren who stole away thirteen centuries 
ago from their native city in such questionable 
manner, nor of their Nephite and Lamanite descend- 
ants in the promised land. Indeed, we have yet 
to learn of one of the race having embraced the 
Mormon faith. 

The conference also passed a series of resolutions, 
thanking the people of Illinois for their kind and 
generous conduct towards them ; the Illinois dele- 
gation in Congress for their course ; and Governors 
Carlin of Illinois and Lucas of Iowa for their sym- 
pathy and protection. There were also several 
resolutions passed criticising the report of the Ju- 



162 TITJS PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

diciaiy Committee of Congress, and pronouncing 
said report * ' unconstitutional " ! 

As all the important movements of these people 
were directed by Smith through so-called revela- 
tions, these were always forthcoming when wanted. 
The following for building up the new city, claims 
to have no higher authority than the will of the 
prophet himself, but was obeyed all the same : 

TO THE SAINTS ABEOAD. 

* * The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-Day Saints, anxious to promote 
the prosperity of said church, feel it their duty to 
call on the Saints who reside out of this county to 
make preparations to come in, without delay. This 
is important, and should be attended to by all who 
feel an interest in the prosperity of this, the corner- 
stone of Zion. Here the temple must be raised, 
the university be built, and other edifices erected 
which are necessary for the good work of the last 
daj^s, and which can only be done by a concentra- 
tion of energy and enterprise. Let it therefore be 
understood, that all the Stakes, excepting those in 
this county, and in Lee County, Iowa, are discon- 
tinued^ and the Saints instructed to settle in this 
county as soon as circumstances will permit. 

'' Joseph Smith. 
'' Nauvoo, Hancoch Co., III., May 24, 1841.'' 

It must be known that prosel}i;es had been made 
in different parts of the United States, and in 
England and Wales, and many other parts of Eu- 
rope. And these recruits were chiefly drawn from 
among the poorer classes of people. We have 



iJlMJ',,!iA.J'l'J. '^.*iisj\ 



otore usf*d the teiiii«i *' kiug " uud '* autocu*.; 

w reJeren^^e to Miis aiTogant leader. Aie they im- 

or;ei tr^rn • r'o liim an injustice? Do they 

■ th*- tnith? Did Turkish 

lissia's Gza; kirn to fxer^ise 

■ r^T his sabjects? Here 

•cler, aiii it ciot;^ not even purport to emai^-.e 

i'ora heaven, requiring that hla beiievers, wherever 

)oat?d-7-in the United States, or Great Bf^tain. on 

the continent, or on the islands of the sea (and he 

had agents in all these to make proselytes) — no 

raatter what their occupation or condition in life, 

and owino^ alleofiance no matter where — all must 

gather around this new corner-stone of Zion, and 

contribute of their energy and enterprise, money, 

strength, sweat, and toil, for this latest great work 

of the latter days ! 

The mandate was issued as if it was expected to 
be obeyed ; and it was obeyed. Hundreds of the 
faithful in all ranks and conditions of life — rich and 
poor, artisans and farmers, and even the halt and 
blind — wherever located, obeyed the injunction and 
made haste to find homes and places for their 
families in and around the new city. 



164 THE PROPHET OF PALMTBA, 



CHAPTEK XVn. 

PROGRESS ANB POLITICS. 

First Great Error— Pkesidenti,^ Election of 1840— How 
Will the Prophet Vote? — Whig Cox^'ention — No^n- 
NATioxs— A Disgraceful Act— Little a:kd Douglas— 
Dr. Charles — The Charters — Their Character— Or 
gaxizations — JoHx C. BEX]srETT — The Warsaw Signal— 
SiUTH Offended — His Characteristic Letter — Tiob 
" Times and Seasons." 

The first great error committed by the people of 
Illinois, in regard to the Mormons and Mormonism, 
was in placing too much reliance on their stories of 
persecution. They were continually reiterated, 
and believed as often as asserted. The Mormons 
were among them, objects of s^Tiipathy and aid; 
the " border ruffians " of Missouri and Ohio were 
at a distance ; and that was before railroads and 
telegraphs and fast mails had penetrated these 
prairie States. 

Another great wrong had its origin in party 
spirit. The two great parties of the nation, Demo- 
cratic and Whig, were pretty evenly balanced 
in l)oth county and State, and a highly exciting 
Presidential election was approachirg. It was 
generally understood, or so proclaimed, that while 
in Missouri Mr. Smith had been an adherent of the 



PBOGBESS A^'^I) POLITICS. 165 

Democratic party ; but the rebuff he had met with 
at Washington had greatly exasperated him against 
the existing Van Buren administration. In addi- 
tion he had been kindly aided hy Mr. Stuart in 
Congress, and decorously treated by the great 
Whig leader, Henry Clay. It was apparent that 
the prophet's influence could control the vote of 
his followers ; and that this vote, if all thrown to 
one party, would soon be sufficient to decide all 
political contests in the county, and perhaps in the 
State. Hence, it w^as only natural that politicians 
of both parties should seek to attach the prophet 
to their interests. In August, 1839, the election 
did not turn on party politics, and but few of the 
new-comers being voters, the result was much as 
before — some of the aspirants from each party 
being elected. 

As the Presidential campaign progressed during 
the summer of 1840, it was generally believed that 
the prophet would vote against Mr. Van Buren ; 
but that he would desert the whole Democratic 
ticket was uncertain. As he had now several hun- 
dred votes at his control, it became a matter of 
importance with candidates to secure his favor; 
and it was wonderful how many of them had busi- 
ness at Nauvoo. And while there, of course duty 
and curiosity both required that they should call 
on the prophet, laugh at his rough jokes, listen to 



166 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

his anathemas against Governor Boggs and the 
Missouri mob, and his boasts of the up-building of 
Zion, while partaking of his hospitable entertain- 
ment at his Mansion House hotel. Altogether, his 
hotel was among the best stopping places in the 
city, and their bills were always paid liberally and 
Avillingly. Men of both parties were assiduous in 
this — all anxious to receive some sign as to the 
direction of the heavenly breezes that were ex- 
pected to blow in the coming August.* And these 
signs were pretty equally divided among them all ; 
all were allowed to go away with high hopes of 
success. 

It will be remembered that the Presidential elec- 
tion of 1840 was a highly exciting one ; and that 
during the canvass the Whigs held many mass meet- 
ings in Illinois and elsewhere, popularly known as 
''Log Cabin and Hard Cider" demonstrations, in 
favor of General Harrison for President. About 
the last of March, one of these meetings — a very 
large and enthusiastic one — was held at Carthage, 
the county seat, in which some of the principal 
Mormons participated. At this meeting nomina- 
tions were made for a representative to the State 
Legislature, and for various county offices. The 
ticket was well received by the party, and was 

* Under tlie old Constitution, elections were held in the 
month of August. 



PBOGRESS AND POLITICS. 167 

placed at the head of the editorial columns of the 
Western World at Warsaw, the Whig organ, where 
it remained until the 22d of July. In the Wo7'ld 
of that date it was announced that Mr. Martin 
Hopkins, the candidate for Representative, had 
withdrawn, and that Dr. John F. Charles had been 
put up in his place. And what would the reader 
guess was the reason for this change ? the purpose 
of a party in thus setting aside a good and capable 
man, and substituting another? Simply this : The 
autocrat of Nauvoo had signified that he would not 
support Mr. Hopkins ! No good ground for such 
refusal was ever known ; but to such extent did 
party subserviency go, in this second jesiY of Mor- 
monism in the State. It is not strange that Smith, 
ambitious of power, and so lately at the bottom 
round of the ladder, should have been elated at the 
change, and willing to use the power of which he 
found himself so suddenly in possession. The re- 
sult was that the whole Whig ticket for the county 
was elected by an average majority of about four 
hundred votes. 

A characteristic circumstance in connection with 
this election deserves to be mentioned. Of the 
names of Whig electors for President and Vice- 
President, that of Abraham Lincoln was " scratched " 
by about two hundred voters at Nauvoo, and that 
of his Democratic opponent in the district substi- 



168 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

tilted. Mr. Lincoln had in some way unkno^vn 
rendered himself obnoxious to the prophet. 

Dr. Charles, the newly elected representative, 
and also State Senator Sidney H. Little (previousty 
elected and holding over), were both instrumental 
the next winter in obtaining for the Mormons the 
unusual charters granted by the Legislature. These 
charters included one for the " City of Nauvoo," 
for the " Xauvoo University," and for an inde- 
pendent military organization called the ''Nauvoo 
Legion." There was also one for an "Industrial 
and Mechanical Association. Mr. Little was very 
active in procuring their passage through the Sen- 
ate ; and to him and to Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, 
then Secretary of State, were the Mormons chiefly 
indebted for the extraordinary powers conferred by 
these charters ; though they are stated to have 
passed both houses without opposition, and to have 
been read only by their titles. It is due, however, 
to the memory of these honored and talented dead 
statesmen, to believe that they could have had no 
conception of the means that would be resorted to 
for the abuse of powers so thoughtlessly conferred. 

Mr. Little was a citizen of the county, a law3^er 
of fine abilities, and possessed of great personal 
magnetism, and was held in much esteem by all 
classes of people. He had oreat influence with the 
leaders of Xauvoo. He met a trascic death in Au- 



PBOGJRESS AND POLITICS, m 

gutit, 1841, by being thrown from a buggy. AVhat 
might have been his course had he lived, is for an 
inscrutable Providence to know ; but we feel sure 
that had he remained among us, his fertile genius 
and talents would have found a better way out of 
the difficulties which were so soon to follow, than 
through a road marked with violence and blood- 
shed. 

The act (the charters were all contained in one 
act) created a *'City," a '* University," and a 
** Military Legion''; represented respectively by 
a *' City Council," a " Board of Trustees," and a 
*< Court Martial," each of which was invested with 
legislative, judicial, and executive powers ; the right 
to *' enact, establish, ordain and execute, all laws 
and ordinances not repugnant to the constitution 
of the United States or of this State." No proviso 
appears in the act, guarding against infringement 
of the laws of either the State or the United States. 
That usual proviso in charters, may or may not 
have been purposely omitted ; but it will be found 
on examination, that in all other charters granted 
at that session, infractions of the laivs as well as 
the constitutions are included among the provisos. 
It is, however, an obvious fact, that the Judiciary 
Committee, both houses of the Legislature, and the 
Governor who signed the bill, in passing it in the 



170 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

manner they did, omitted the perfoiinance of their 
plain duty. 

The Legion was made independent of the rest of 
the military of the State. It had created for its 
commander, an officer whose title was unknown 
elsewhere in the State or nation, that of "Lieu- 
tenant-General " ; and any citizen of the county 
was at liberty to enroll himself as a member, by 
which all the brethren everywhere in the county 
were brought under the sanie military control. 

Soon after the settlement had begun at Nauvoo, 
and before the prophet had escaped from the Mis- 
souri jail, a small monthly organ of the church was 
established, under the charge of Ebenezer Kobinson 
and Don C. Smith, the latter a young brother of 
the prophet. Its first issue was dated November, 
1839. This paper was changed subsequently to a 
semi-monthly, and was continued during the whole 
period of the Mormon sojourn in the county, with 
numerous changes in its ownership and manage- 
ment. Its title was Times and Seasons. Once 
or twice it was nominally conducted by the prophet 
himself, its latest editor being John Taylor, one of 
the Twelve, and at the present writing, the suc- 
cessor to Brigham Young at Salt Lake. 

On the third of February, 1841, the city of 
Nauvoo was organized under its charter, with Dr. 
John C. Bennett as its first mayor. The Legion 



PMOGHESS AND POLITICS. 171 

and the University were organized about the same 
time — President Joseph Smith as Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral, and Bennett as Major-General of tlie Legion, 
and James Kelly, A. M., *' an alumnus of Trinity 
College, Dublin," as chancellor of the University. 
All these organizations were effected with great 
show and ceremony, and attracted crowds of peo- 
ple, both Mormon and Gentile. One of the first 
acts of the city council was to pass a series of 
resolves conveying thanks to the State govern- 
ment for favors conferred, and to the citizens of 
Quincy for kindness shown them when driven from 
Missouri. The Legion was furnished with State 
arms by General Bennett, who, we omitted to 
state, had the year before been appointed Quarter- 
Master-General of the State by Governor Carlin. 

Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, who had at the last 
legislative session been elected one of the Judges 
of the Supreme Court, and assigned to circuit duty 
in that district, held a court in Hancock County 
early in May, 1841. One of his first acts was the 
appointment of the newly-made Major-General of 
the Legion to the office of Master in Chancery. 
This act of indiscretion met with general con- 
demnation by the old settlers of the county*. It 
was rebuked in strong terms by the Warsaw Sig- 
nal (then the only paper in the county outside of 
Nauvoo), urging as valid objections to the ap- 



172 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

pointment, that Bennett was a stranger in the 
county, and that the mass of the people had no 
confidence in him. In the same issue of that jour- 
nal was an editorial referring to an existing rumor 
that some newly-an'ived emigrants from England 
were dissatisfied with afiairs at Nauvoo. The 
8ignal continued : 

*' But this is no concern of ours. While on the 
subject, however, we will notice an accusation 
which has been made against us — that of having for 
political effect flattered the Mormons. This is not 
true. We have occasionally noticed their doings, 
but not with any such design. We believe they 
have the same rights as other religious bodies pos- 
sess, and ought to be protected in the just and 
proper exercise of those rights. We do not be- 
lieve in persecution for opinion's sake. But when- 
ever they, as a people, step bej^ond the proper 
sphere of a religious denomination, and become a 
political body, as many of our citizens are begin- 
ning to apprehend will be the case, then this press 
stands pledged to take a stand against them . On 
religious questions it is and shall remain neutral ; 
but it is bound to oppose the concentration of 
political power in a religious body, or in the hands 
of a few individuals." 

No one can claim that the foregoing was unjust 
in sentiment or purpose toward any class of people 
or any individual. It fairly and firmly expressed 
the feeling that existed in the public mind through- 
out the county and State, without regard to party 
distinctions. Yet it gave great offence to th© 



PBOGBESS AND POLITICS. 173 

reiguiiig authority at Nauvoo. Soon afterwards 
the following note was received by the editor of 
the Signal through the mail : 

''Nauvoo, 111., May 26, 1841. 
**Mk. Sharp, Editor of the Warsaiu Signal: 

*' Sir : — ^You will discontinue my paper ; its con- 
tents are calculated to pollute me. And to patron- 
ize that filthy sheet, that tissue of lies, that sink of 
iniquity, is disgi'aceful to any moral man. 
*' Yours with contempt, 

* < Joseph Smith. 
** P. S. — Please publish the above in your con- 
temptible paper." 

Dr. John C. Bennett was a late convert to the 
Mormon faith. He came to Nauvoofrom a distant 
part of the State, soon ingratiated himself into the 
confidence of the prophet, and about the first of Oc- 
tober, 1840, was baptized, and at once became a 
conspicuous and active leader. He was a man of 
liberal education, excessively vain and pompous, 
and of good address ; and yet he brought with him, 
if not a tainted, at least a questionable reputation, 
which his career at Nauvoo did not improve. He 
was said to have been at the time a comparative 
stranger in the State ; and how he came to be the 
recipient of two or three important oflaces, was not 
understood. Governor Ford's account of this in- 
dividual is so tersely written, and so well accords 
with the general opinion concerning him, that we 
give it in his own language : 



174 tb::e phophet of palmtba. 

" This Bennett was probably the greatest scamp 
in the A^estern country. I have made particular 
inquiries concerning him, and have traced him in 
several places in which he has lived before he 
joined the Mormons — in Ohio, Indiana, and Illi- 
nois — and he was everywhere accounted the same 
debauched, unprincipled and profligate character. 
' He was a man of some little talent, and had the 
confidence of the Mormons, and particularly that 
of the leaders." — Hist, of Illinbis, page 263. 

In referring to the appointment of Bennett to be 
Master in Chancery, the Signal had used the fol- 
lowing language : 

<' Bennett has but recently become an inhabitant 
of this State. He came here followed by evil re- 
port — he joins a sect and advocates a creed in 
which no one believes he has any faith — his true 
character is not known to our citizens, nor have 
they any confidence in him." 

To this the next issue of the Times and Seasons 
responded : 

«« . . . But General Bennett's character as 
a gentleman, an officer, a scholar and physician, 
stands too high to need defending by us ; suffice it 
to say that he is in the confidence of the executive, 
holds the office of Quarter-Master-General of the 
State, etc." 

It is interesting to contrast this with what these 
people had to say of Dr. Bennett about a year 
afterwards — for which see a future chapter. 



AH ANTI-MOBMON FABTY. 175 



CHAPTER XVin. 



AN ANTI-MORMON PARTY. 



Unworthy Sycophancy — A Growing Apprehension — Public 
Meetings — Anti-Mormon Party— Candidates Elected 
— ^Thomas Pord Nominated for Governor — The Wasp. 

The consideration with which the prophet was 
treated by the great men of the land — governors, 
judges, politicians, divines, and others — had much 
effect in pampering his pride and vanity, and lead- 
ing him on to his destruction. Had all these 
prominent men treated him as they knew he de- 
served, and sternly said to him : <* Joseph Smith ! 
you are an arrant knave and impostor, and deserve 
the contempt of all honest men," or had they even 
neglected to run after and fawn upon him ; he 
would have fallen into obscurity, and we would 
long since have ceased to hear of Mormonism, ex- 
cept as one of those fantastic tricks with which the 
world is so frequently afflicted. 

The following is one among many instances of 
the character to which we refer. On a certain 
Sunday in May, Judge Douglas, then holding court 
in Carthage, in company with Cyrus Walker, Esq., 
an attorney at the bar — prominent leaders in the 



176 THE PBOFHET OF PALMYBA. 

two great political parties — paid Xauvoo and the 
prophet a visit, and were received with high con- 
sideration. They went to hear him deliver one 
of his usual politico-religious harangues, with 
which he weekly favored the gaping multitude ; 
and there these two dignitaries were taken to the 
stand and introduced to the congregation, and after 
being complimented by the chief, made flattering 
speeches in return. 

This is only one among the many cases that were 
constantly occurring during the greater period of 
Smith's residence in Nauvoo. It is not a matter 
of wonder, then, that in view of his constant com- 
mands to the faithful to come and settle in the 
county — ^the course so certain to be pursued by 
them at all times — with what was daily transpiring 
among the politicians, that the sober and reflecting 
people of the county, should become alarmed, and 
begin to look about for some mode of redress. In 
consequence of this growing apprehension, public 
meetings began to be held in various neighbor- 
hoods ; and finally it was decided to call a county 
convention to consider the subject. One was ac- 
cordingly held at the county seat on the 28th of 
June, 1841, composed of many of the best citizens 
from both political parties. This convention de- 
cided to adopt and carry forward a policy which 
at this^ay may be regarded by many as indiscreet ; 



AN AXTI-MOBMON PARTY. 177 

namely, the organization of a party in opposition 
to Mormon influence, and to put forward candi- 
dates for office. Whether this policy was the best, 
in view of all the circumstances and of the results, 
it were hard to determine. 

Accordingly a Democrat and u Whig were put 
up for the only two county offices to be filled that 
year — County Commissioner and School Commis- 
sioner. The first was elected by a majority of 
twenty-four and the latter by four votes over their 
competitors. It is proper to add that neither of 
their opponents were Mormons, but belonged to 
each of the political parties, and were supported 
by the Mormon vote. At this election, Hon. John 
T. Stuart received the almost unanimous Mormon 
vote for Congress. 

From this convention — and it was one of the 
most respectable and earnest ones ever held in the 
count}^ — may be dated the rise of the * 'Anti-Mor- 
mon" party, and the origin of the term ** Anti- 
Mormon," as applied to those who were seeking to 
counteract Mormon influence in the county and 
State ; a party which existed during the whole re- 
maining period of Mormon residence in the county, 
and which met with much vituperation and mis- 
representation by many of the presses of the coun- 
try. Its aim was patriotic and commendable ; yet 
it will not be denied that, in the excitements of 



178 THE FBOPHET OF PAL3IYBA, 

party strife, many acts of unnecessary and unlaw- 
ful violence were committed by it — the crowning 
one of which was the expulsion of the sect from the 
State. 

Two of the resolutions passed at the convention, 
will not be out of place in this connection. It re- 
solved : 

'' That with the peculiar religious opinions of the 
people calling themselves Mormons, or Latter-Day 
Saints, we have nothing to do ; being at all times 
perfectly willing that they shall remain in full pos- 
session of all the rights and privileges which oui 
constitution and laws guarantee and other citizens 
enjoy. 

" That in standing up, as we do, to oppose the 
influence which these people have obtained, and 
are likely to obtain, in a political capacity, over 
our fellow citizens and their liberties, we are guided 
only by a desire to defend ourselves against a 
despotism, the extent and consequences of which 
we have no means of ascertaining." 

The convention also put forth an earnest address 
to the people, urging them to lay aside all party 
differences in support of the principles and policy 
of the new organization. 

In the latter pai-t of the year 1841, the Demo- 
cratic party of the State met in convention at the 
capital, and nominated Hon. Adam W. Snyder for 
Governor, ex-Grovernor Joseph Duncan being the 
candidate of the Whigs. But Mr. Snyder dying 
soon after, Judge Thomas Ford was nominated in 



AN AXTI-3£0BM0N PARTY, 179 

his stead. Eearly in 1842, the prophet issued a 
proclaiuation enjoining his followers to vote the 
Democratic ticket — which they did, electing all its 
candidates in the county, and aiding to swell Judge 
Ford's majority over his competitor. The Anti- 
Mormon party, as in the year before, put a full 
ticket in the field, only to be defeated. It had ob- 
tained in 1841 its first and only success. 

Among the elected this year was William Smith, 
a young brother of the prophet, to the responsible 
office of representative in the General Assembly. 
William (or as he was always called, '' Bill Smith ") 
was an illiterate, wild, and reckless scion of the 
family, of rather questionable character, even among 
his own people ; but who had been advanced to 
the position of *' Patriarch " in the church, in order 
to receive the perquisites arising therefrom. He 
had also aspired to the dignity of editor, and had 
conducted a little sheet which he had named T7ie 
Wasp — indicating that he regarded it as a stinger 
among newspapers ; but for illiterate and vulgar 
abuse, and silly nonsense, had seldom been excelled. 
It had a sickly existence of a few months, and was 
succeeded by the JSFauvoo JSFeighhor, a larger, bet- 
ter, and more decent sheet. 

These sheets, after the Times and Seasons^ 
heretofore mentioned, were the organs and the 
only organs of the Saints during their stay in 



180 THE PJROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

Illinois. They were conducted — tlie monthly or 
religious organ — mainly by the prophet himself, 
though often relieved by others of his principal 
adherents, and the latter, a weekly secular sheet, 
by John Taylor, an English convert. The ability 
displayed in their editorial management was below 
that of most of the country press of the State. 




THE TEMPLE AT ITAUVOO. 



THE NAUYOO TEMPLE^ 181 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE NAUVOO TEMPLE. 

Temple Building— At Nauvoo— Corner Stones Laid — 
Re\t:lation Demanding It — Also a ' ' Boarding House " 
— The Naua'OO House Unfinished — Stockholders 
Named by Eevelation. 

Te3iple building seems to have ever been one of 
the chief purposes of Mormonism. The prophet 
began at a very early day, at Kirtland, to extract 
money and labor from his followers, ostensibly for 
the purpose of rearing a grand structure in Zion, 
in which to worship and receive messages from the 
Most High. One was built there, but never fin- 
ished until thirty or forty years after his death. 
Others, how many we do not know, were begun or 
projected in Missouri ; and now a still more impos- 
m<^ and maonificent one is to be commenced at 
Nauvoo. 

The revelation ordering this great work is one oi" 
the most elaborate and remarkable among the 
many issued by him. As it could only be built by 
the free-will offerings of his people, ample provision 
had to be made to secure these. One of the latest 
revelations given in Missouri, was at Far West, 
dated July 8, 1838, and was in answer to the ques- 



182 THE PROTHET OF PALMYRA. 

tion : " O Lord, show unto thy servants how much 
thou requirest of the properties of the people for a 
tithing." And this is the answer : 

"1. Yeril}^ thus saith the Lord, I require all 
their surplus jproperty to be put into the hands of 
the bishop of my church of Zion, for the building 
of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of 
Zion, and for the priesthood, and for the debts of 
the Presidency of my church ; and this shall be the 
beginning of the tithing of my people ; and after 
that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one- 
tenth of all their interest annually ; and this shall 
be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy 
priesthood, saith the Lord." 

What portion of a man's property may be called 
** surplus," would be hard for most men to deter- 
mine, but was doubtless easy for the Mormon 
prophet ; and as the question was left for him or 
the bishop to decide, we maj^ conclude that the 
surplus was often large. It was rather heavy tax- 
ation, however, to require all his surplus at the 
beginning, and then ten per cent, annually forever 
on the remainder. But the requirements for this 
heavy taxation were great and numerous ; the tem- 
ple was to be built, the "foundations of Zion" 
were to be laid, the " priesthood " was to be sup- 
ported, and the " debts of the Presidency " were to 
be paid. This was given in Missouri, where a 
temple was planned, insignificant in comparison with 
the one now to be built. It has been claimed by 



THE KAIJYOO TEMPLE. 183 

Mormon authority, that this Nauvoo temple cost 
them over a million of dollars. Three to four hun- 
dred thousand, it is believed, would have been 
ample for the purpose. What became of the re- 
mainder, the reader must guess. 

Preparations for the work were early begun, and 
on the 6th of April, 1841, the eleventh anniversary 
of the formation of the church in Xew York, the 
corner stone was laid with imposing ceremonies, 
and in presence of several thousand people. The 
Legion was out in full force, amounting to over 
six hundred men, under command of Lieutenant- 
General Smith and Major-General Bennett. Sidney 
Kigdon was the orator of the day. And from that 
day forward, until driven into the wilderness, these 
people contributed of their "surplus," and their 
labor, toward its completion ; constant demands 
were made upon them for more, and constant com- 
mands sent abroad for money and means to carry 
forward the work. 

The revelation given for the erection of this tem- 
ple was dated January 19, 1841, and provided also 
for a grand hotel for the prophet to live in. It is 
very lengthy and explicit on many points. The 
Kings of the Earth were to be called upon for aid, 
and Robert B. Thompson was enjoined to help w^rite 
the proclamation. We can only quote portions : 

*'. . . I say unto you that 3'ou are noAV 



184 THE PROPHET OF FALMYBA. 

called to make a solemn proclamation of my gospel, 
and of this Stake which I have planted to be the 
corner stone of Zion, which shall be polished with 
that refinement which is after the similitude of a 
palace. This proclamation shall be made to all the 
Kings of the World, to the four corners thereof, 
to the honorable President-elect, and the hio-h- 
minded governors of the nation in which you live, 
and to all the nations of the earth, scattered abroad. 
. . . Awake ! O Kings of the Earth ! Come 
ye, O come ye, with your gold and your silver, to 
the help of my people, to the house of the daugh- 
ters of Zion. And again, verily I say unto you, 
let my servant Eobert B. Thompson help you to 
write this proclamation ; . . . 

*'And again, I say unto you, blessed is my ser- 
vant, H3a-um Smith, 

"Again let my servant John C. Bennett help 
you in your labor. ... I have seen the work which 
he hath done, which I accept, if he continue, and will 
crown him with blessings and great glory.* . . . 

"And again I say unto you, that it is my will 
that my servant, Lyman Wight, should continue 
preaching for Zion, . . . that when he shall 
finish his work, I may receive him unto myself, 
even as I did David Patten, who is with me at this 
time, and also my servant, Edward Partridge, and 
also my aged servant, Joseph Smith, Sr., who sit- 
teth with Abraham, at his right hand, and blessed 
and holy is he, for he is mine. 

"And again I say unto you, my servant George 
Miller is without guile, ... I therefore seal 
upon his head the oflSce of a bishoprick, 

"Let my servant George, and my servant Ly- 

* After tlie quarrel with Bennett, a short time afterwards, 
Smith published in the Times and Seasons a statement that 
soon after Bennett joined them, he had letters from abroad 
telling what a scamp he was, and cautioning them to beware 
of him. 



THE KAUYOO TEMPLE, 185 

man, and my servant John Snyder, and others, 
build a house unto my name, such an one as my 
servant Joseph shall show unto them, upon the 
place which he shall shoAV unto them also. And it 
shall be for an house for l)oarduig, an house that 
strangers may come from afar to lodge therein ; 
therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all 
acceptation, that the weary traveller may find health 
and safety while he shall contemplate the word of 
the Lord, and the corner stone I have appointed for 
Zion. This house shall be a healthy habitation, if 
it be built unto my name, and if the governor, 
which shall be appointed unto it shall not suffer 
any pollution to come upon it. It shall be holy, 
or the Lord your God will not dwell therein .... 
"And now, I say unto you, as pertaining to my 
boarding house, which I have commanded you to 
build, for the boarding of strangers, let it be built 
unto my name, and let my name be named upon it ; 
and let my servant Joseph and his house have 
place therein, from generation to generation ; for 
this anointing have I put upon his head, that his 
blessing shall be put upon the head of his posterity, 
after him ; and as I said unto Abraham, concerning 
the kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my 
servant Joseph, in thee and in thy seed, shall the 
kindred of the earth be blessed. Therefore, let my 
servant Joseph, and his seed after him, have place 
in that house, from generation to generation, for- 
ever and ever, saith the Lord, and let the name of 
that house be called the Kauvoo House ; and let it 
be a deliofhtful habitation for man, and a restino- 
place for the weary traveler, that he may contem- 
plate the glory of Zion, and the glory of this the 
corner-stone thereof; that he may receive, also, the 
counsel from those whom I have set to be as plants 
of renown, and as watchmen upon her walls." 



186 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

Then it goes on to organize a stock company for 
tiie building of the hotel, providing *'my ser- 
vants," George Miller, L^mian Wight, John Snyder, 
and Peter Haws, shall be the corporators ; that they 
shall form a constitution and receive stock in shares 
of fifty dollars each, but that no one shall hold more 
than fifteen thousand dollars' worth of stock ; ' ' but 
if he pay nothing," he shall receive no stock ; that 
they shall not appropriate the stock for any other 
purpose, under the penalty of repaying fourfold, 
" for I, the Lord, am God, and cannot be mocked 
in any of these things." 

" My servant Joseph," is also allowed to pay 
stock into their hands ; and " there are others also, 
who wish to know my will concerning them ; for 
they have asked it of my hands " ; therefore, Vinson 
Knight, and brother H^^rum, and Isaac Galland, 
and William Marks, and Henry G. Sherwood, and 
William Law, and Amos Davis, *'my servants," 
were all specially named as authorized to become 
stockholders. But no man was allowed to become 
a stockholder, ''unless he be a believer in the 
Booh of Mormon and the revelations I have given 
unto you." It is quite certain that at least two of 
those named never believed in the Booh ofMonnon, 
and well understood the object of the revelations ; 
it is not certain whether they ever subscribed to 
the stock. 



THE KAVVOO TEMPLE, 187 

And yet that house, which was to be ** worthy of 
all acceptation," and the habitation of Smith and 
his family, ** from generation to generation, forever," 
was never occupied by him, and was never finished. 
Mrs. Smith, with her Gentile second husband, re- 
sided in a portion of it during the latter years of her 
lifetime. The command for the erection of the 
temple was equally decisive and imperative. It 
said, in part : 

*'And again, verily I say unto you, let all my 
Saints come from afar ; and send ye swift messen- 
gers, yea, chosen messengers, and say unto them. 
Come ye, with all your gold, and your silver, and 
your precious stones, and with all your antiquities ; 
and with all who have knowledge of antiquities, 
that will come may come, and bring the box tree, 
and the fir tree, and the pine tree, together with 
all the precious trees of the earth ; and with iron , 
with copper, with brass, and with zinc, and with 
all your precious things of the earth, and build an 
house to my name, for the Most High to dwell 
therein ; for there is not a place found on earth that 
he may come and restore again that which was lost 
unto you, or, which he hath taken away, even the 
fulness of the priesthood ; for a baptismal font there 
is not upon the earth ; that they, my Saints, may 
be baptized for those who are dead ; for this ordi- 
nance belongeth to my house, and cannot be accept- 
able to me, only in the daj^s of your povert}^ 
wherein ye are not able to build an house unto me. 
But I command you, all ye m}^ Saints, to build an 
house unto me ; and I grant unto }■ ou a sufficient 
time to build an house unto me, and during this 
time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto 
me. ..." 



188 THE PROPHET OF PALMYPA. 

And the temple was built, though never com- 
pletely finished, a handsome and imposing struc- 
ture, at a great cost of money and labor. For 
several years, the brethren residing over the county, 
and in near portions of the State and Iowa, would 
come and labor on it, giving to its service one- 
tenth of their time ; and would convey to the city 
and deposit in the '« Lord's Store House," for. the 
use of the laborers, and for the support of the Pres- 
idency and the priesthood, one-tenth of all the 
products of their farms and shops. '* Holixess to 
THE Lord " was artistically displayed in golden 
letters upon it, and from its commanding position 
on the bluff in the city, it could be seen for miles 
around, a beautiful and imposing spectacle. Its 
walls were built of a beautiful dressed limestone, 
from extensive quarries on the Mississippi bluff, two 
miles below the city. 




HYRUM SMITH. 



MUCH ADO ABOUT THEFT, 189 



CHAPTER XX. 

MUCH ADO ABOUT THEFT. 

Hyrum Smith's Affidavit— And the Twelve— Reother 
Joseph's Affidavit and Proclamation— The Court- 
Martial and All the Generals. 

One of the many charges made against the Lat- 
ter-Day Saints while in Illinois, was that the rank 
and file were prone to appropriate the property of 
their Gentile neighbors to their own use. That 
this propensity did exist among them, to a greater 
extent than among outsiders, is capable of the clear- 
est demonstration, though strenuously denied on 
their part. There were two causes — excuses, we 
may say — for this propensity. One was the ex- 
treme poverty of many of them, dragged about, as 
many of them had been, from place to place, and 
robbed of their scanty means, to pamper their lead- 
ers ; and the other was, the teachings of the leaders 
themselves. It is not to be supposed that the 
prophet or many of his numerous missionaries 
meant to inculcate theft ; but they did teach, and 
it was ever one of the chief burdens of their ha- 
rangues, that " the earth is the Lord's and the ful- 
ness thereof," and that the Gentile possessions were 
soon to fall into the hands of his Saints for an inher- 



190 TSE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

itance, and '*we" are his Saints. Many of the 
more ignorant among them interpreted these teach- 
ings too literally, and anticipated the time when 
this event was to take place. And it is a well- 
known fact, that leaders and officials would generally 
endeavor to screen those charged with the oiFence, 
under the pretext that it was outside persecu- 
tion. 

The fact that these charges of theft had become 
so frequent, and were evidently ha\dng effect in 
the community, led the authorities to take action 
upon them, and we copy below some curious docu- 
ments, showing what that action was. They will be 
found in the Times and Seasons of December 1, 
1841: 

HYRUM smith's AFFIDAVIT. 

*' AYhereas, it hath been intimated to me by per- 
sons of credibility, that there are persons in the 
surrounding country who profess to be members of 
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who 
have been using their influence and endeavoring to 
instil into the minds of good and worthy citizens 
in the State of Illinois, and the adjoining States, 
that the First Presidency and others in authority 
and high standing in said church, do sanction and 
approbate the members of said church in stealing 
property from those persons who do not belong to 
said church, and thereby to induce persons to aid 
and abet them in the act of stealing, and other evil 
practices, I therefore disavow hereby any sanction 
or approbation by me, of the crime of theft, or any 



MUCH ADO ABOUT THEFT. 191 

other evil practice, in any person whatever, whereby 
either the lives or property of our fellow-citizens 
may be unlawfully taken or molested ; neither are 
such things sanctioned or approbated by the First 
Presidency, or any other })er8on in authority or 
good standing in said church, but such acts are 
altogether in viohition of the rules, order, and reg- 
ulations of the church, contrary to the teachings 
of said church, and the laws of both God and man. 
I caution the unwary, who belong to the aforesaid 
church, and all other persons, against being duped 
or led into any act or scheme which may endanger 
their character, lives, or property, or bring reproach 
upon the church ; and I certify that I hold my per- 
son and property ready to support the laws of the 
land, in the detection of any person or persons who 
may commit any breach of the same. To which I 
subscribe my name and testify, this 26th day of 
November, 1841. 

** Hyeum Smith." 

<* Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 26th 
day of November,' 1841. 

"E. KOBINSON, J. P." 

Then follows a long address from the Twelve, 
from which we copy only the concluding para- 
graph : 

« < We hope that what we have written may suf- 
fice, and take this opportunity of expressing our 
decided and unqualified disapprobation of anything 
like theft, in all its bearings, as being calculated to 
destroy the peace of society, to injure the Church 
of Jesus Christ, to wound the character of the peo- 
ple of God, and to stamp with eternal infamy all 
who follow such diabolical practices, to blast their 



192 THE PROPHET OF PALMYPA. 

character on earth, and to consign them to eternal 
perdition. 

" (Signed), 

Brigha]m Youxg, Orson Hyde, 

Heber C. Kemball, Willi a^i Smith, 

Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, 

John E. Page, Wileord Woodrltt, 

Willard Richards, John Taylor, 

Ly3iax Wight, George A. Smith. 

^'miuvoo, III., Dec. i, 1841:' 

Next follows another affidavit from the prophet 
himself, without doubt in his own language and of 
his own composition : 

" City or Nauvoo, Nov. 20, a.d. 1841. 
'< To THE Pl^blic : — The transpiration of recent 
CA^ents makes it criminal in me to remain longer 
silent. The tongue of the vile yet speaks, and 
sends forth the poison of asps ; the ears of the 
spoiler yet hear, and he puts forth his hand to 
iniquity. It has been proclaimed upon the house- 
top, and in the secret chamber, in the public walks 
and private circle, throughout the length and 
breadth of this vast continent, that stealing by the 
Latter-Day Saints has received my approval ; nay, 
that I have taught the doctrine, encouraged them 
in plunder, and led on the van — than which noth- 
ing is more foreign from m^^ heart. I disfellowship 
the perpetrators of all such abominations ; they are 
devils and not Saints, totally unfit for the society 
of Christians or men. It is true, that some profess- 
ing to be Latter-Day Saints have taught such vile 
heresies, but all are not Israel that are of Israel ; 
and I wish it to be distinctly understood, that in 
all coming time, that the church over which I hare. 
the honor of presiding, will ever set its brows like 



MUCH AUG ABOUT THEFT. 193 

brass, and its face like steel, against all such abom- 
inable acts of villainy and crime : and to this end I 
append my affidavit of disavowal, taken this day 
before General Bennett, that there may be no mis- 
take hereafter as to my real sentiments, or those 
of the leaders of the church, in relation to this im- 
portant matter : " 

<' StxVte or Illinois, > 
Hancock County. > * ' 

*' Before me, John C. Bennett, Mayor of the 
City of Nauvoo, personally came Joseph Smith, 
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
Day Saints (commonly called Mormons), who, 
being duly sworn according to law% deposeth and 
sayeth, that he has never directly or indirectly, en- 
couraged the purloining of property, or taught the 
doctrine of stealing, or any other evil practice, and 
that all such vile and unlawful acts will ever re- 
ceive his unqualified and unreserved disapproval, 
and the most vigorous opposition of the church 
over w^hich he presides, and further this deponent 
saith not. 

'' Joseph Smith, 
'^ President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
Day Saints. 

" Sworn to and subscribed before me, at my 
office, in the City of Xauvoo, this 29th day of No- 
vember, Anno Domini, 1841. 

'' John C. Bennett, 
*' Mayor of the City of JVauvoo.'' 

<* Now, it is to be hoped that none hereafter will 
be so reckless as to state that I, or the church to 
which I belong, approve of thieving, but that all the 
friends of law and order will join in ferreting out 
thieves wherever and whenever they may be found, 



194 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

and assist in bringing them to that condign punish- 
ment which such infamous crimes so richly merit. 

' ' Joseph Smith, 
''^President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
Day Saints.'^ 

Nor was this all. The Legion got after a brace 
of thieves and ran them clear through the Circum- 
locution Office : 

COURT-MARTIAL. 

*' City or Nauvoo, Nov. 30, 1841. 
*' To Brevet Maj.-Gen. Wilson Law: — 

" We, the undersigned, members of the General 
Court-Martial, detailed by you, on the order of 
Lieut. -Gen. Smith, through Maj.-Gen. Bennett, for 
the trial of David Smith and Joseph Holbrook, 
officers of the Nauvoo Legion, charged with theft, 
and being accessory thereto, are of the opinion that 
they are guilty of the charge preferred against 
them, and our unanimous decision is that they be 
cashiered, and their names be stricken from the 
rank roll. 

" Witness against David Smith : Hazen Kimball. 

' ' Witness against Joseph Holbrook ; B. Young 
and W. Richards. 

<< Hyrum Smith, 

Brev. Brig. -Gen. and President of the Court, 
Wm. Law, Brevet Maj.-Gen. 
C. C. Eich, Brig. -Gen. 2d Cohort, 
H. McFall, Adj. -Gen. 
Daniel H. Wells, Com. -Gen. 
S. Bent, Col. 3d Reg. 2d Cohort. 
T. BillinCxS, Col. 1st Reg. 2d Cohort. 
J. T. Barnett, 

Capt. M Co. 1st Reg. 2d Cohort. 

Members of the Court'' 



MUCH ADO ABOUT THEFT. 195 

'« To yiaj.-Gen. Bennett : — I approve of the above 
decision, and submit it to yoii for action on the 
case. 

"Wilson Law, Brevet 3Iaj.- Gen." 

" To Lt.-Gen. Smith : — The General Court-Mar- 
tial detailed for the trial of David Smith and Joseph 
Holbrook, officers of the Nauvoo Legion, have made 
the above report to me, and asked my concurrence 
in the same, which, under the circumstances, can- 
not be withheld; it is, therefore, su})mitted to you 
for your final approval or disapproval. 

«^ JohnC. Bennett, Maj.-Gen.^^ 
« * Approved : 

" Joseph Smith, Lt.-Gen.'' 

And the culprit officers heaved big sighs of relief, 
and escaped the legal punishment due to their 
crimes ; while the people of the county pat extra 
locks on their doors, ' 



196 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE GAME OE HABEAS CORPUS. 

Arrest of Smith at Quincy, 1841 — Trial Before Judge 
Douglas at Monmouth and Discharge — Attempted 
Assassination of Governor Boggs of Missouri — 0. P. 
RocK\A ELL Charged with the Crime — New Demand for 
Smith and Eockwell — Arrest in Nauvoo — Habeas Cor- 
pus Applied by the Municipal Court — Ford's State- 
ment — Re-arrest and Trial Before Judge Pope and 
Discharge— The Writs, etc. 

It will be remembered that the prophet and three 
or four of his associates had made their escape from 
prison in Missouri, and were consequently re- 
garded, as fugitives fi'om justice. It was after- 
wards asserted, and was probably true, that their 
escape was effected by the connivance or gross 
carelessness of the officers in charge. At any rate, 
it is believed that the Missouri authorities were 
quite willing to be relieved of their presence. If 
this were really so, there can be no valid reason 
shown, why efforts should be again made to obtain 
them. Yet Missouri justice, or Missouri ven- 
geance, was not satisfied; for, on June 5, 1841, 
Mr. Smith, being in Quincy, was arrested on a 
warrant from Governor Carl in, on a requisition 
from the Governor of Missouri. Smith's counsel 



THE GAME OF HABEAS COL'FUS. 197 

at once obtained a writ of habeas corpus from 
Calvin A. Warren, Esq., Master in Chancery for 
Adams County — Judge Douglas being then absent 
holding court at Monmouth, AVarren County. But 
coming home to Quincy l)efore the trial of the writ, 
he ordered the writ and the prisoner to be sent to 
Monmouth for a hearing on the following Monda}'. 
This w^as done, and after argument of counsel, the 
prisoner was discharged, on the ground that the 
writ had been once returned before it was served, 
and vras functus officio. 

The warrant for arrest, it appeared, had before 
been in the hands of an officer, wdio, through fear, 
or for some other cause, had returned it to the ex- 
ecutive office. This arrest and discharge of the 
prophet caused much excitement and comment, at 
Nauvoo and elsewhere. The decision of the judge 
was generally accepted as correct ; yet a strong- 
suspicion prevailed that the whole thing was ar- 
ranged and concocted for political effect. Of this 
we know of no existing proof. 

On the morning of the 7th of May, 1842, the 
people near his residence in Missouri, were startled 
to learn that during the night an attempt had been 
made to assassinate ex-Governor Boggs of that 
State. He had been fired at through his window, 
as he sat reading in his room, and seriously but 
not fatally wounded. The assassin, who was after- 



198 THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYBA. 

wards strongly suspected to have been the notorious 
Orrin P. Eockwell, of Nauvoo, made his escape. 
This man was known, far and wide, to be a des- 
perado, and was believed to be an active member 
of the Danite Band. Though sometimes denounced 
by the church organ as a bad man, he was no- 
toriously, through the whole period of eight years, 
kept in close intimacy with Smith and the leaders. 
Rockwell had been absent from the city for some 
time previous to the attempt on the life of the ex- 
Governor, and on his return openly boasted that 
he had been in the vicinity of the Governor's resi- 
dence, visiting friends. He died a few years ago 
at Salt Lake City, where he had held much the 
same position under the authorities there as he had 
maintained under the prophet — feared by Gentile 
enemies and apostates as a " destroying angel." 

That this man was the actual would-be-murderer 
of Governor Boggs, and that he was commissioned 
by Smith to do the deed, can scarcely admit of 
doubt. The prophet had declared that Boggs 
would die a violent death ; and he had stated that 
Rockwell had gone " to fulfil prophecy." Nearly 
all seceders subsequent to the event agreed in 
maintaining the truth of the charge, including 
Major-General Bennett, and Brigham Young him- 
self. 

In the light of such proofs as are given in chap- 



THE GAME OF HABEAS COBPUS. 19!) 

ter X. of this work, it is not difficult to believe 
tlmt O. P. Rockwell was sent to kill ex-Governor 
Boggs. 

The hostility of the Missourians toward the 
prophet was intensified by this attempt upon the 
life of their former governor ; and in August a 
new demand reached Governor Carlin at Quincy, 
for Rockwell, as principal, and Smith, as accessory. 
Accordingly, the Governor issued a warrant for 
their arrest, which was placed in the hands of an 
officer during the week after the August election. 
He repaired to Kauvoo on Monday, the 8th, and 
made the arrest without difficulty. The prisoners 
were immediately taken on a writ of habeas corpus 
issued by the municipal court of the city, brought 
before that body, and at once discharged. The 
officer insisting that the court had no jurisdiction, 
and that the discharge was illegal, it was agTeed 
by Smith, that if the writ should be returned to 
the Governor, with the indorsement that the prison- 
ers had been discharged by the municipal court, 
he would hold himself in readiness to obey, in case 
the Governor should again send for him. The officer 
thereupon returned to Quincy ; but was despatched 
back again by the executive, with orders to re- 
arrest them at all hazards. In the mean time Smith 
had taken legal counsel, and when the officer ar- 
rived had disappeared. It is believed that he was 



200 THE PBOPIIET OF PALMYBA. 

secreted somewhere in the city. The name of 
EocliArell seems to have somehow been dropped. 
^Vhj no eflbrt was ever afterwards made to procure 
him, who was clearly amenable to the laws of Mis- 
souri, was never well understood by the public. 

A clause in the city charter of Xauvoo provided 
that ' ' the municipal court shall have power to 
grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising 
under the ordinances of the city council.'*' It was 
under this grant, construed to include all cases of 
arrest, that the court claimed its authority to take 
the prisoners from the officer and set them at 
liberty ; and it was the knowledge that this would 
be done, which induced them so willingly to sub- 
mit to arrest. AYe find an ordinance of the city 
council, dated the 8th day of August, the date of 
the arrest ; but whether passed in anticipation of 
that event, or subsequent to it, and to guard against 
the future, does not appear. It pro^ddes for a 
'pro-tem])ore ^layor and Chief Justice of the muni- 
cipal court in contingent cases, and Smith, when 
arrested, held both those offices. (See Ordinances.^ 

Of course the discharge was flagrantly illegal. 
And thus the matter rested until the following 
year, and Governor Carlin's term having expired, 
Governor Thomas Ford occupied the executive 
chair. Quoting from Ford's History of Illinois, 
he says — page 314 : 



THE GAME OF HABEAS CORPUS. 201 

"As I before said, Governor Carlin, in i842, 
had issued his warrant for the arrest of Joe Smith,* 
as a fugitive from justice in Missouri. This war- 
rant had never been executed, and was still out- 
standins: when I came into office. The Mormons 
were desirous of havino- the cause of arrest legally 
tried in the federal court. Upon their application 
a duplicate warrant w^as issued in the winter of 
1842-3, and placed in the hands of the Sheriff of 
Sangamon County. Upon this, Joe Smith came to 
Springfield and surrendered himself as a prisoner. 
A writ of habeas corpus was obtained from Judge 
Pope of the federal court, and Smith was dis- 
charged." 

As much controversy arose concerning this dis- 
charge by Judge Pope, and as the papers in the 
case illustrate the method of '* How not to do it," 
we copy them in full, with the Judge's reasons 
for the prisoner's discharge. The following are 
the official papers in the case— the italics are our 
own : 

*' State of Missouri, ) 

County of Jackson, 5 

'' This day personally appeared before me, Sam- 
uel Weston, a Justice of the Peace within and for 
the County of Jackson, the subscriber, Lilburn W. 
Boggs, who being duly sworn doth depose and say, 
that'on the night of the 6th day of May, 1842, 
while sitting in his dwelling in the town of Inde- 
pendence, in the County of Jackson, he was shot 
with intent to kill, and that his life w^as despaired 

* Governor Ford had little respect for the Mormon prophet, 
and usually designated him by the nick-name " Joe." 



202 Tin: PllOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

of for several dajs ; and that he believes, and has 
good reason to believe, from evidence and infor- 
mation now in his possession, that Joseph Smith, 
commonly called the Mormon prophet, was acces- 
sory before the fact of the intended murder, and 
that the said Joseph Smith is a citizen or resident 
of the State of Illinois ; and that the said deponent 
hereby applies to the Governor of the State of Mis- 
souri to make demand on the Governor of the State 
of Illinois, to deliver the said Joseph Smith, com- 
monly called the Mormon prophet, to some person 
authorized to receive and convey him to the State 
and custod}^ aforesaid, there to be dealt with ac- 
cording to law. 

*' Lelburn W. Bogpgs." 

*' Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 20th 
day of July, 1842. 

«' Sa^iuel Weston, J. P." 

*< The Governor of the State of Missouri to the 
Governor of the State of Illinois, Gkeeting: 

''Whereas, it appears by the annexed docu- 
ment, which is hereby certified to be authentic, 
that one Joseph Smith is a fugitive from justice, 
charged with being accessory before the fact, to 
an assault with intent to kill, made by one 0. P, 
BockicelU on Lilburn W. Boggs in this State ; and 
it is represented to the executive department of 
this State, has fled to the State of Illinois : 

" Xow, therefore, I, Thomas Eeynolds, Governor 
of the said State of Missouri, by virtue of the 
authority in me vested by the constitution and 
laws of the United States, do by these presents, 
demand the surrender and delivery of the said 
Joseph Smith to Edward E. Ford, who is hereby 
appointed as the agent to receive the said Joseph 
Smith, on the part of the State. In testimony, etc." 



THE GAME OF HABEAS COEPVS. 20J 

** The People of the State of Illinois y to the Sheriff 
of Sangamon County ^ Greeting : 

»* Whereas, it has been made known to me by 
the executive authority of the State of Missouri, 
that one Joseph Smith stands charged by the affi- 
davit of one Lilburn W. Boggs, made on the 20th 
day of July, 1842, at the County of Jackson, in 
the State of Missouri, before Samuel Weston, a 
Justice of the Peace, within and for the County of 
Jackson aforesaid, with being accessory before the 
fact, to an assault with intent to kill, 7nade hy one 
O. P. Rochioell on Lilburn W. Boggs, on the night 
of the 6th day of May, 1842, at the County of 
Jackson, in said State of Missouri, and that the 
said Joseph Smith had fled from the justice of said 
State, and tahen refuge in the State of Illinois: 

*'Now, therefore, I, Thomas Ford, Governor of 
the State of Illinois, pursuant to the constitution 
and laws of the United States, and of this State, do 
hereby command you to arrest and apprehend the 
said Joseph Smith, if he be found within the limits 
of the State aforesaid, and cause him to be safely 
kept, and delivered to the custody of Edward K. 
Ford, who has been duly constituted the agent of 
the said State of Missouri, to receive said fugitive 
from the justice of said State — he jjaying all fees and 
charges for the arrest and apprehension of the said 
Joseph Smith — and make due return to the ex- 
ecutive department of this State, of the manner in 
which this writ may be executed. In testimony 
whereof, etc." 

And now, at the distance of near a half century 
from the date of these events, and regarding the 
writs and the facts in the light of reason and com- 
mon sense, it seems like mere boy's play that these 
chief magistrates of two great States, and other 



204 THE PBOPIIET OF PALMYBA. 

officials, were engaged in ; or, worse still, that 
they were purposely issuing writs which thev knew 
to be defective, in order to avoid the responsibility 
resting upon them as conservators of the peace and 
upholders of the law's majesty. The writs were 
illegal and wrong — first, because if Joseph Smith 
did send Orrin P. Rockwell to Missouri to kill 
Governor Boggs, his offense was not against the 
State of Missouri, but against the State of Illinois, 
of which he was a resident and citizen, and by Illi- 
nois laws and in her courts must he be arraigned 
for trial and punishment. Secondly, Governor 
Boggs's affidavit plainly charges that Smith is a 
' ' resident and citizen of the State of Illinois ; " and 
hence, for Governor Reynolds and Governor Ford 
to say that he had ' ' fled fi-om the justice of the 
State of Missouri," was a palpable and unwarrant- 
able perversion of fact, not only as stated by Boggs, 
but as they all knew it to exist. 

So it is fair to presume that these officials knew, 
and the prophet knew, before he submitted himself 
as a prisoner at Spring-field, that Judge Pope must 
certainly discharge him. And he did discharge 
him, chiefly on the grounds above stated, in these 
words : 

<*The court can alone regard the facts as set 
forth in the affidavit of Boggs, as having any legal 
existence. The mis-recitals and over-statements 



Tllh: GAME OF HABEAS COBFUS. 205 

in the requisition and warrant are not supported 
by oath and cannot be received as evidence to de- 
prive a citizen of his liberty, and transport him to 
a foreign State for trial. For these reasons Smith 
must be discharged." 



206 THJE PBOPHET OF PALMYMA. 



CHAPTER XXn. 

MOKE HABEAS CORPUS WORK. 

Another Indictment and Demand — Congressional Can- 
vass — Walker and Hoge— Arrest at Dixon — Great 

EXCITEIMENT — ThE OFFICERS AS PRISONERS — ThE PrOPHET 

Trittmphant — A Strange Cavalcade — Another Habeas 
Corpus— Lawyer Southwick's State^ment — Result of 
the Canvass— Brother Hyruju's Revelation — Walker 
Defeated. 

The interesting and exciting game of ' * Demand 
and Discharge," played by the two Governors, was 
not yet brought to an end. Major-General Ben- 
nett (as will be recounted in a future chapter), 
quarrelled with his chief, and was discomfited and 
disgraced, and compelled to leave the city. True 
to his threat, he had gone to Missouri and had suc- 
ceeded in procuring another indictment against his 
old friend, and another requisition. Ford's history 
states that this indictment and requisition included 
both Smith and Eockwell for the attempt upon 
Governor Boggs. But Mr. Southwick, one of 
Smith's attorneys in the case, stated that they were 
for Smith alone, on the charge of " treason against 
the government of Missouri" — the old offence. As 
no after attempt was made to arrest Rockwell, this 
latter statement is prol^ably the correct one. On 



MOBE HABEAS CORPUS WOBK. 207 

this requisition, Governor Ford issued his warrant 
for the arrest of the prophet, and placed it in the 
hands of Harman T. Wilson of Carthage, a bold 
and fearless Deputy Sheriff, with instructions to 
serve, and place the prisoner in the care of Joseph 
H. Reynolds, the agent of Missouri, who accom- 
panied him. 

Before proceeding to relate occurrences in con- 
nection with this arrest, we must go back and 
review the condition of affairs in the county at the 
time. In the year 1843 it was not deemed expe- 
dient, nor was it possible, to keep up the Anti- 
Mormon organization. Whig politicians had hopes 
of receiving the Mormon vote — or at least of divid- 
ing it. Smith had been released from arrest by 
Judge Pope, a Whig, and his cause had been ably 
argued by Whig lawyers. The Democrats also 
desired a party organization, and expected to retain 
the vote because they had heretofore secured it, and 
no reason was manifest for a change. The Warsaw 
Message (Whig) had succeeded for a time the 
Anti-Mormon /Signal, and its political editor 
strongly favored distinct Whig action and a full 
Whig local and general ticket. On the 10th of 
May a Whig Congressional district convention was 
held at Rock Island, at which Mormon delegates 
attended. Cyrus Walker of Macomb, was unan- 
imously chosen as the candidate for Congress. 



208 THE' PBOFIIET OF FALMYBA. 

Joseph P. Hoge of Galena, was about the same date 
nominatecrby a Democratic coiiYention as his com- 
petitor. The district (the fifth) was very larire, 
embracing the fifteen northwestern counties of Jo 
Daviess, Carroll, Stephenson, Winnebago, Ogle, 
'WHiiteside, Rock Island, Mercer, Warren, Hender- 
son, McDonough, Stark, Lee, Knox, and Hancock, 
the latter being the most southern. 

The two Congressional candidates were repre- 
sentatiA^e men of their respective parties, and per- 
sonally popular.* Mr. Walker was an old lawyer 
of distinction in the State, of the class to which 
Lincoln, McConnell, Bissell, Baker, Williams, 
Browning, and Edwards belonged, and was regarded 
as the peer of any of them. Mr. Hoge was a 
younger and newer man, but was talented, ener- 
getic, and a good stump orator. He had never been 
in any way identified with the Mormons, having his 
residence in a county the most remote from them 
in the district. Walker was supposed to be in 
good favor at Nauvoo, as he had on several occa- 
sions acted as counsel to the prophet. 

Soon after the nominations, the campaign of the 
district began with great vigor. To make a thorough 
canvass in so large a district, required a great deal 
of time and a great amount of physical energy, it 
being necessary to address the people in three or 
four, and often eight or ten, places in a single 



MOBE HABEAS COliPVS WOliK, 209 

county. IiTospective of the Mormon vote, tliere 
was a decided Whig majority in the district, and 
the probabilities were strongly in favor of the suc- 
cess of the Whig candidate. 

So stood affairs when the new warrant for Smith's 
arrest was placed in the hands of the officer. Learn- 
ing that Smith and his wife were on a visit to her 
relatives at Palestine Grove in Lee County, toward 
the north end of the district, and about one hun- 
dred and fifty miles from Xauvoo, the officer, in 
company with the Missouri agent, quietly repaired 
thither. They found the prophet at the house of 
his friend, arrested him, and placing him in a car- 
riage, started by way of Dixon, the county seat. 
Here the prisoner was allowed to consult with law- 
yers, who procured for him a writ of habeas corpus 
from the Master in Chancery of said county. This 
writ was made returnable before Judge Caton at 
Ottawa, in whose circuit they were. This proceed- 
ing placed the officers with their prisoner in the 
hands of the Sheriff of Lee County. The following 
morning they started for Ottawa, distant about 
forty miles, and after travelling three-fourths of the 
distance, Avere informed that Judge Caton was tem- 
porarily absent from the State, when they returned 
to Dixon. 

Before starting for Ottawa, Smith had entered 
suit in the Lee circuit court for false imprisonment 



210 THE PROPHET OF PALMYEA, 

against Wilson and Reynolds ; and being unable to 
procure bail, they were held in the custody of the 
Sheriff. Against this arrest, the officers in turn 
procured a writ of habeas corpus^ returnable before 
Judge Young at Quincy, in their own circuit, and 
this writ was also placed in the hands of the Lee 
Sheriff. After the return to Dixon, Smith pro- 
cured another writ of habeas corpus (as a substitute 
for the first one) returnable before the ' ' nearest 
tribunal in the Fifth Judicial Circuity authorized 
to hear and deterinine writs of habeas corpus.^' 
The fifth circuit embraced Quincy, the residence of 
Judge Young, and Nauvoo, the residence of the 
prophet, with a municipal court claiming the right 
to hear and determine writs of habeas corpus in all 
cases. ( ! ) 

These proceedings completely turned the tables 
upon the two officers, and filled the hands of the 
Lee Sheriff with prisoners and his pockets with 
writs. Instead of the prophet for their prisoner, 
they found themselves under arrest and unable to 
give bail, with Smith really a free man. The fiat 
had already gone forth that he was to be discharged ; 
for was not the Nauvoo municipal court nearer 
by forty miles than the court of the honorable Judge 
Young at Quincy? and was not Smith himself the 
Mayor of said city and presiding officer of its 
court. 



MOBE HABEAS COBPUS WOHK. 211 

Smith's arrest was made on Tliursda}^, the 23d 
of June, and on Monday, the 27th, the cavalcade, 
consisting of Wilson, Reynolds, and Smith ; Messrs. 
Walker, Southwick, and Patrick, the counsel of 
Smith ; McKay, employed by Reynolds to ouard 
Smith ; Sanger, the owner of the stage coach ; Mc- 
Comsey, the driver of one of the teams employed ; 
Ross, driver of the coach ; Mason, attorney for 
Reynolds and Wilson ; Wasson, the relative of 
Smith's wife, at whose house the arrest was made ; 
Montgomery, son-in-law and travelling companion 
with Walker ; and Mr. Campbell, Sheriff of Lee 
County, all started from Dixon southward in the 
direction of Nauvoo and Quincy. Where were they 
going, and what were they going for? The officer 
had in his pocket two writs of habeas corjous, di- 
recting him to convey the persons therein named, 
one to Judge Young of Quincy, and the other to 
the nearest authorized court in the Fifth Judicial 
District, to hear and determine on habeas corjnis. 
It is not too severe a judgment to say that all four 
of those legftl gentlemen well knew that the place 
where both those writs were properly returnable, 
was Judge Young's court at Quincy. Besides, in 
a legal sense, it was necessary and proper that the 
wi'it procured by Wilson and Reynolds should be 
the first heard and determined. Instead, they 
travelled directly to Nauvoo. The conclusion is 



212 THE PBOPSET OF FALMYBA. 

unavoidable, that when the second writ was obtained 
by Smith, the purpose was to cany them to that 
nondescript Nauvoo tribunal. We have the testi- 
mony of one of the attorneys to that effect. Mr. 
Southwick said, in a communication to the Warsaw 
Message : 

' ' No threat or intimidation was used by any per- 
son whatever, to induce Mr. Campbell, the Sheriff 
of Lee Count}^ to go to Xauvoo with Reynolds ; 
and Mr. Campbell well knew before starting from 
Dixon, that it was the determination of the whole 
company to go to Xauvoo, he particularly consent- 
ing to the same. The stage was also chartered to 
go to Nauvoo. Smith said before leaving Dixon, 
that he should submit to the law, and appeared de- 
sirous to do so.'^ 

*« Smith pledged his word," continued Mr. South- 
wick, *' previous to his arrival in Xauvoo, that 
Reynolds should not be harmed " ; and he was not. 
He and Wilson were even invited to dine with the 
prophet at his home, which they did, and were 
introduced to his family. 

Another writ of habeas corpus! Says Southwick : 

**In the afternoon of the day of said arrival, a 
writ of habeas corpus was issued by the municipal 
court of the city of Xauvoo, directed to Re3"nolds, 
requiring him to bring before said court the body 
of said Smith ; which he accordingly did, objecting, 
however, to the same, that said court had no juris- 
diction in the case." 

Of course he objected ; the above, however, 

contains one slight mistake : it was Smith that 



MOUE HABEAS COBPUS WOUK. 213 

])rought Reynolds before the municipal coui*t. The 
report continues : 

"The counsel of Smith, however, appeared to 
entertain a different opinion as to the jurisdiction 
of said court, and the examination was had before 
them, and Smith discharired upon the merits of the 
case, and upon tiie substantial defects in the war- 
rant." 

And this is what the * ^ opinion " of those learned 
counsel was based on — a clause in the Xauvoo 
charter: "The municipal court shall have power 
to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising 
under the ordinances of the city council. ^\ ! ) 

When Smith was arrested, it so happened that 
both Walker and Hoo'e, the candidates for Con- 
gress, were canvassing in the vicinity of Dixon. 
In addition to the two Dixon attorne3^s, Smith sent 
for Walker. This gentleman left his appointments, 
and, as we have seen, rode with the cavalcade to 
Nauvoo ; and it is said, there made a three-hour 
speech in favor of Smith's discharge. Governor 
Ford's history states that both he and Hoge, from the 
public stand in that city, afterwards declared their 
belief in the existence of the power claimed by the 
municipal court. 

Being thus signally baffled, the Missouri agent 
applied to Governor Ford for a militar}^ force to 
enable him to retake Smith ; and Mr. Walker, as 
Smith's attorney, repaired to Springfield to resist 



214 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

the application. After considerable delay, the G-ox'- 
ernor declined to grant Eeynolds's request, and the 
matter was dropped. 

Thus ended another move, and the last one, in 
the interesting game of •' Demand and Discharge," 
which the executives of two great States had for 
two or three years been playing. 

While these legal proceedings were being enacted 
up north, tremendous excitement existed at Nauvoo 
and over Hancock Count}^ As soon as possible 
after the arrest, the news thereof had been sent to 
the city by swift messenger, and hasty preparations 
were made for their chiefs rescue. But it was not 
known what route would be taken by the Missouri 
officer with his prisoner. It was conjectured that 
he might drive eastward, and take steamer at the 
nearest point on the Illinois river, and so down to 
St. Louis ; or that he might aim for a Mississippi 
steamer at Kock Island ; or that they might take 
a land route across the country. All these con- 
tingencies were provided for. A little steamer, 
owned and employed at l^auvoo, was armed, it was 
said, with a cannon or two, and manned, and sent 
down the Mississippi, to intercept them in or at the 
mouth of the Illinois. At the same time, squads of 
armed horsemen were sent out on the various roads 
leading toward Dixon. The delay, as we have 
seen, at that place, gave time for numbers of these 



3I0BE HABEAS CORPUS WOBK. 215 

horsemen to be a considerable distance on their 
way north, before the party of prisoners and law- 
yers had left for Xauvoo ; and during the journey 
down it was met by many of them, who turned and 
escorted their cliief back to the city. 

These events occurred during the latter part of 
June and the first days of July ; and it was some 
time before Mr. Walker was free to resume his can- 
vass. His conduct, as well as that of Mr. Hoge, was 
severely criticised. Many Whigs were highly indig- 
nant. It is believed that the prophet had intended, 
in o:ood faith, to throw the Mormon vote to Mr. 
Walker ; but owing to the dissatisfaction of the Whigs 
in part, and for the reason that Reynolds's applica- 
tion for a force was still held in terromtm over him, 
he had changed his policy. Ford himself states 
that a friend of his, in his absence, and in his name, 
had pledged to a Mormon emissary, that if they 
would vote the Democratic ticket the force would 
not be sent. — Hist, III,, p. 317. 

The Governor's statement of what occurred at 

Nauvoo in regard to the matter, so nearly accords 

with what Ave learned at the time from other 

sources, and it is doubtless true, that we give it in 

his own words : 

**A great mee4;ing was called of several thousand 
Mormons on Saturday before the election. Hyrum 
Smith, patriarch in the church, and brother to the 
prophet, appeared in this great assembly, and there 



216 THE FEOPHET OF PALMYHA, 

solemnly announced to tlie people that God had 
revealed to him that the Moimons must support 
Mr. Hoge, the Democratic candidate. William 
Law, another great leader of the Mormons, next 
appeared, and denied that the Lord had made any 
such revelation. He stated that to his certain 
knowledge, the prophet was in favor of Mr. Walker, 
and that the prophet was more likely to know the 
mind of the Lord on the subject than the patriarch. 
Hj^rum Smith again repeated his revelation with a 
greater tone of authority. But the people remained 
in doubt until the next day, being Sunday, when 
Joe himself appeared before the assembly. He 
there stated that "he, himself," was in favor of Mr. 
Walker, and intended to vote for him ; that he 
would not influence any voter in gi\ang his vote ; 
that he considered it a mean business for him or any 
other man to attempt to dictate to the people who 
they should support in elections ; that he had heard 
his brother Hyrum had received a revelation from 
the Lord on the subject ; that for his part, he did 
not much believe in revelations on the subject 
of elections ; but brother Hyrum was a man of 
truth ; he had known brother Hyrum intimately 
ever since he was a boy, and he had never known 
him to tell a lie. If brother Hyrum said he had 
received such a revelation, he had no doubt it was 
a fact. "\Ylien the Lord speaks, let all the earth be 
silent." 

The question was settled. It is believed that the 

prophet, with Law and a few others, did vote for 

Walker, in the face of the revelation ; but the body 

of his followers voted for Hoge, giving him 2088 

votes to Walker's 733 in the county, and beating 

him in the district 455 votes. The news of this 

revelation at Nauvoo did not reach the adjoining 



MOUE HABEAS C OFF US WOJRK, 217 

district below, till after the election ; and the Mor- 
mon vote there was thrown to O. H. Browning, 
the Whig candidate. To Mr. AValker and his 
friends and the AVliig party generall}^ this result 
was most aggravating ; more so from the fact, that 
by a straightforward and independent course, 
thereby securing a full and enthusiastic support 
from his paily, it was believed he could have been 
elected with the Mormon vote solid against him. 



218 THE FBOPHET OF FALMYBA» 



CHAPTER XXm. 

rv\^0 WAYS OF TELLING A STOKY. 

Story of the Aerest of the Prophet, as Told by Two — 
The Prophet's Story — The Officer's Story. 

Theee is an adage that one story is good until 
another is told. The widely differing stories told 
concerning the arrest of the prophet, chronicled in 
the preceding chapter, will each be believed by a 
large number of people — the first, by the thousands 
of faithful followers of the prophet, who, like his 
brother Hyrum, " never told a lie"; and the other 
by everybody else. If either be true, the arrest 
must have been dramatic in the extreme. The 
Times and Seasons of July 1, 1843, tells it thus in 
behalf of the prophet : 

"While he [Smith] was there [at his wife's 
sister's residence, 12 miles from Dixon] a Mr. J. 
H. Reynolds, Sheriff of Jackson County, Missouri 
(so he says), and Mr. Harman Wilson of Carthage, 
arrived at Dixon, professing to be Mormon preach- 
ers ; from thence they proceeded to Mr. Wasson's, 
at whose house Mr. Smith was staying. They 
found ]Mr. Smith outside the door, and' accosted 
him in a very uncouth, ungentlemanly manner, 
quite in keeping, however, with the common Prac- 
tice of Missourians. The following is as near the 
conversation as we can gather. Reynolds and his 



TWO WAYS OF TELLING A STOliY. 119 

coadjutor Wilson, both stepped up at a time to j\Ir. 
Smith, with their pistols cocked, and without show- 
ing any writ or serving any process, Mr. Keynolds, 
with his pistol cocked at Mr. Smith's breast, cried 
out : ' G — d d — n you ! if you stir I'll shoot ; 
G— d d— n you ! be still or I'll shoot, by G— d ! ' 

* ' * What is the meaning of this ? ' interinipted 
Mr. Smith. 

" * I'll show you the meaning, by G — d ! and if 
you stir one inch I'll shoot you, G — d d — n you !' 

^^'I'm not afraid of your shooting,' answered 
Mr. Smith ; * I am not afraid to die.' He then 
bared his breast and said : * Shoot away I I have 
endured so much of oppression I am weary of life, 
and kill me, if you please, I am a strong man, 
however, and with my own natural weapons could 
soon level both of you ; but if you have any legal 
process to serve, I am at all times subject to law, 
and shall not offer resistance.' 

<«*G — d d — n you, if you say another word, 
we'll shoot you, by G — d ! ' 

" < Shoot away ! ' answered Mr. Smith, « I'm not 
afraid of your pistols.' 

' * They then hurried him off to a carriage they 
had, and without serving any process were for hur- 
rying him off without letting him see or bid fare- 
well to his family or friends. Mr. Smith then said : 

*« ' Gentlemen, if you have any legal process, I 
wish to obtain a writ of habeas corpus,' and was 
answered : 

** < G — d d — n you ! you shan't have one.' 

**Mr. Smith saw a friend of his passing, and 
said : * These men are kidnapping me, and I want 
a writ of habeas corpus to deliver myself out of 
their hands.' 

*' This friend immediately proceeded to Dixon, 
whence the Sheriff also proceeded at full speed. On 
arriving at the house of Mr. McKinnie, tavern- 



110 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

keeper, Mr. Smith was thrust into a room and 
guarded there, without being allowed to see any- 
body, and horses were ordered in five minutes. 
Mr. Smith then stated to Reynolds : ' I wish to get 
counsel ; ' and was answered : ' G — d d — n you ! 
you shan't have counsel; one word more, G — d 
d — n you, and I'll shoot you.' 

" ' AYhat is the use of this so often?' said Mr. 
Smith. ' I have often told you to shoot, and I 
now tell you again, to shoot away ; ' and seeing a 
person passing, he said ; ' I am falsely imprisoned 
here, and I want a lawyer.' 

*' A lawyer came, but had the door banged in 
his face, with the old threat of shooting, if he came 
any nearer; another afterwards came, and received 
the same treatment. 

"Then the citizens of Dixon interfered, etc." 

Whether the editor of the Times and Seasons 
drew upon his imagination for the foregoing or 
had it from Smith himself, is not known. The 
writer of these pages knew Mr. Wilson well 
for many years, and believes the story told by 
him to be substantially true, as heard more than 
once from his own lips. He stated that he and 
Reynolds drove in their carriage to the residence 
of Mr. Wasson, alighted and hitched their team, 
and stepping to the front door, inquired for Mr. 
Smith. The answer was very unsatisfactory^ but 
that he was not there. They took seats, however 
— ^Reynolds in the doorway, and Wilson on the 
step outside — and entered into conversation. While 
thus engaged, Wilson, who had a view of the stair- 



TWO WAYS OF TELLING A STOBY. 221 

way, saw Emma, the prophet's wife, whom he had 
before known, hastih' cross the hall at the head of 
the stairs. This convinced him that they were on 
the right track. The conversation continued a 
little longer ; hut Wilson was becoming excited 
and uneasy. Rising from his seat, he made a step 
or two to the corner of the house, and casually 
casting his eye along the side of the building, was 
astonished to see the object of their search off in 
an open field two hundred yards away, running to- 
ward a piece of woods some distance off. 

On the impulse of the moment, and without bid- 
ding good-b3^e to the household, or explaining to 
Reynolds, he gave a whoop, and started in pursuit, 
leaving his companion to bring up the rear. The 
pursuers, being lighter and more nimble of foot, 
gained upon the pursued. So he resorted to 
strategy. He was nearing an old cabin, unin- 
habited, but at the side of which was a well, and 
near by a lot of clothes spread over some tall grass 
and weeds to dry. It was evident the flying chief- 
tain had been aiming for the forest beyond ; but on 
arriving at the building, Wilson could nowhere see 
the fugitive. He certainly had not had time to 
reach the timber, nor could he be seen anywhere 
about the buildino:. Givinor a hurried olance at 
the surroundings — taking in the cabin, the well, 
the drying bed-clothes, etc. — an idea struck him, 



222 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

and the next moment he saw a pair of boots pro-, 
trading from beneath some bedding on the weeds. 
By this time Eeynolds was close at hand ; but 
in his excitement, and without waiting to see if 
there was a man in the boots, or who that man 
might be, Wilson sprang upon the blanket and 
called to Re^^nolds to come on. The man in the 
boots soon emerged from his hiding place, and 
stood before them as their prisoner, in great trepi- 
dation assuring them of his surrender. In due 
time he was placed in their carriage and started on 
their journey — a journey ludicrous in its beginning, 
but disastrous to them in the end ; and which, in- 
stead of landing their prisoner in Missouri, brought 
them into a dismal swamp of habeas corpus, fin- 
ally standing them, conquered and abashed, before 
the municipal court at Nauvoo. 



A STOBM-CLOUD BISES, 223 



CHAPTER XXIY. 



A STOKM-CLOUD KISES, 



Quarrel Between the Chiefs — General Bennett's De- 
fection — Charges and Denials — Bennett Accepts the 

" BUFFETINGS " AND Lea\'T:S — HiS LETTERS TO THE 

Sangamo Journal — Testimonials Pro and Con. 

DuRmG the summer of 1842, an ugly storm- 
cloud burst upon the horizon of ISTauvoo, which 
threatened serious disaster. A quarrel spiTing up 
between the two great leaders, Generals Smith 
and Bennett. The true inwardness of this quarrel 
was never fully known ; but there is good reason 
for the opinion that it originated in jealousy. The 
city at that time contained some five or six thousand 
people, and was rapidly growing ; yet it was not 
large enough for them both. Bennett had fast risen 
into power and greatness through the ill-advised 
generosity of the state government and the favor- 
itism of the Mormon people. He was excessively 
vain and ambitious, and desired a greater share of 
the honors and emoluments than the prophet was 
willing to grant him. Immediately upon organ- 
izing under the charters, he had been given the two 
best offices, next to the supreme one held b}^ the 
prophet himself. It is believed, further, that the 



224 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

cause of the quarrel was not alone a jealousy of 
each other s power and influence ; l3ut that a jealousy 
resulting from quite another cause had much to do 
with it. In fact, it is very evident from the pub- 
lished statements by )»oth parties, that there was 
a woman or two concerned. As they had been in 
confidential and close intimacy before, they noiy 
became vindictive and bitter enemies. But with 
his usual luck. Smith held the reins of power. The 
Lieutenant-General out-generaled the Major-Gen- 
eral with the masses, and the latter went down, 
and was compelled to leave the city. He who had 
so lately been basking in the sunshine of prosperity , 
was expelled from the church — "seceded," he 
called it — and deposed from the high places which 
he had for so brief a period occupied. He left the 
city, vowing a determination to expose the wrongs 
and wickedness of Mormonism, and his intention 
to bring the prophet to condign punishment ; de- 
claring, further, that he had never been a believer, 
but had only joined them to acquaint himself with 
their nefarious designs. On the other hand, Smith 
and the church organs were not slow in denouncing 
the apostate general. If the half were true that 
these belligerent chiefs told of each other, they 
both deserved the contempt of mankind. As a 
general rule, and not to show partiality, the great 
mass of the Gentile people believed them both. 




MAJOE-GENERAL JOHN C. BENNETT. 



A STOBM'CLOUD RISES. 226 

At the time of Bennett's defection, several others 
of the principal men manifested a rebellious spirit; 
and it looked for a season as if there would be a 
serious disruption. Of these, Sidney Eigdon, so 
long the confidential counsellor of Smith, and 
Orson Pratt, were the most prominent. And if 
Bennett's stories were true, each of these, with sev- 
eral others, had strong private reasons for entering 
into the rebellion. But the power of the prophet 
restrained them all, and Bennett alone was turned 
over to the " buffetings of Satan." The fallen 
chief at once left the city, and proceeded to CWrthage, 
the county seat, claiming that his life was in dan- 
ger — how truly we can only judge in the light of 
subsequent events. He began a series of letters to 
the Sangamo Journal at Springfield, carrying out 
his purpose of exposure. These letters were widely 
read and commented on. They were interesting 
for many reasons. First : They exhibited in strong 
light the character of Bennett himself. Second : 
Whether he was worthy of full credence or not, 
they portrayed the workings of that theocratic des- 
potism which prevailed at Xauvoo. And third : 
They give us an idea of the sort of people he had 
been associating with and upholding and defending ; 
and of the motives which actuated him and them. 
As literary productions they were weak, bombastic, 
and in bad taste. 



22C THE PBOPHET OF PALMYEA. 

Bennett, througli his letters to the Journal, and 
the Mormons, through their organs, kept up for 
several weeks a terrible tirade of abuse and so- 
claimed exposure of villainies, ad nauseum. The 
Times and Seasons of July 1, 1842, contains a long 
article relating to the difficulty. It denounces 
Bennett in severe terms, charging him with false- 
hood, debauchery, and many other crimes ; and 
publishes letters from abroad showing that his dis- 
reputable character was known to them more than 
a year before. The Master of Nauvoo Lodge of 
<' Free and Accepted York Masons," publicly an- 
nounced that Bennett had ** palmed himself upon 
the fraternity as a regular Mason in good stand- 
ing," when he was an expelled Mason, and cau- 
tioned the fraternity against him. In the organ of 
August 1st, may also be found a report of a meeting 
called to give an expression of the public mind in 
the matter of this grave quarrel. At this meeting. 
General Wilson Law offered the following resolu- 
tion : 

'^Resolved, That having heard that John C. 
Bennett was circulating many base falsehoods re- 
specting a number of citizens of Nauvoo, and 
especially against our worthy and respected Mayor, 
Joseph Smith, we do hereby manifest to the world 
that so far as we are acquainted with Joseph Smith, 
we know him to be a good, moral, virtuous, peace- 
able and patriotic man, and a firm supporter of law, 
justice and equal rights ; that he at all times up- 



A STOBM-CLOUD BISES. 227 

holds and keeps inviolate the constitution of this 
State and of the United States." 

Being put to vote, about a thousand, the report 
says, voted in the affirmative ; but Orson Pratt and 
two or three others, voted in the negative. This 
temerity occasioned great surprise, and ISlv. Pratt 
was at once subjected to a categorical examina- 
tion by the prophet. His reasons for the vote are 
withheld in the report, but he was pressed with the 
following question : 

" Have you, personally, a knowledge of any 
immoral act in me toward the female sex, or in any 
other way ? " 

And Mr. Pratt answered : ' ' Personally, toward 
the female sex, I have not." Dr. Bennett's charge 
against Smith of making improper advances toward 
Mrs. Pratt, was that they occurred in her husband's 
absence from the city. The resolution offered at 
the meeting and which was passed so overwhelm- 
ingly, it will be observed, was presented by one of 
the Laws, who soon afterwards engaged in another 
insurrection, and reaffirmed all the charges and 
more, that are therein denied. 

The '< Ladies' Eelief Society " also joined with a 
paper, signed by one thousand ladies, attesting to 
the <' virtue, philanthropy and benevolence of Joseph 
Smith." 

Thirteen members of the city council made 
affidavit denying Bennett's charges, and further 



228 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

declaring that there was no such a thing as a Danite 
Society in the city, within their knowledge. The 
Times and Seasons for August 1st, also is largely 
filled with the story of Bennett's character ; and to 
these issues of that organ and to the 8angamo 
Journal at Springfield, during that interesting 
period, we refer the reader for the whole history of 
the war between the two doughty generals of the 
Nauvoo Legion. 

Bennett, in his letters, made free use of the 
names of men high in authority in the city, to cor- 
roborate his statements, evidently expecting to 
draw them off. But he failed ; most of them con- 
troverted his stories through the organ. Some of 
these denials are carefull}" worded, and when closely 
examined are found to be partly denial and partly 
evasion. Others are more direct, and embrace 
points which a year or so afterwards were as vehe- 
mently charged by themselves. 

Among charges brought by Bennett against the 
prophet, was one of the attempted seduction of a 
buxom young English girl, who with her parents 
had not long before embraced the faith and emi- 
grated to the city. This girl (Miss Martha Broth- 
ei*ton) corroborated Bennett's charges in a pub- 
lished letter, giving circumstances in detail. 
Whether their story was true or not, it is knowT^ 
that the girl and her parents — ^people of standing 



A STOBJf-CLOUn BISES. 229 

and means — left the city, and, it is believed, re- 
turned to England. 

An apology may seem to be necessary for occu- 
pying so much space Avitli the quarrel between 
these two men. But let it be remembered that Dr. 
Bennett w^as for more than a year the second man 
in position in the city, and a bright light in the 
church, and that he had during that time the seem- 
ins: confidence of Smith and his followers ; and 
more, that he was an appointee of the Governor of 
the State and of a Judge of the Supreme Court, to 
responsible offices. That he was a weak man and 
a knave, his own conduct and expose abundantly 
prove. How far the charges and criminations 
against each other are to be accepted by an honest 
public, we prefer to leave for the discerning reader 
to decide. 

Dr. Bennett's book, entitled The History of the 

Sairtts ; an Exjpos^ of Joe Smith and Mor^nonism, 

issued soon after his defection and fall, contains 

this in its opening chapter : 

' ' I find that it is almost universally the opinion 
of those who have heard of me in the eastern part 
of the United States, that I united myself to the 
Mormons from a conviction of the truth of their 
doctrines, and that I was, at least for some time, a 
convert to their pretended religion. This, however, 
is a very great error. / never believed in them or 
their doctrines.'' 

But he claimed that he joinecl them in order to 



230 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

ascertain the truth about their objects and de- 
signs, and to expose them. And he adds that there 
was in existence among them a deep-laid scheme to 
conquer the five States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Missouri, and Iowa, for a military and religious 
empire, over which Joe Smith was to rule as Em- 
peror and Pope, and Prophet of the Lord. This 
is all folly ; Dr. Bennett found no such scheme 
among them. Who can be made to accept the 
story that the Mormon prophet would limit himself 
to those five insignificant States for his rule ? Did 
he not proclaim that the ' ' whole earth " was to be 
brought, and the possessions of all the Gentiles 
therein, under the sway of the Saints for an inher- 
itance? However true many of Bennett's charges 
against the Mormons and their leaders maybe, and 
we are forced to believe that many of them are true, 
we must be excused from accepting that story. 

But Dr. Bennett's book is a curiosity in itself. 
It abounds in egotism and bombast, indicative of 
the character of its author ; yet he brings together 
an array of specifications and charges against 
the prophet and the leaders, which, corrol)orated and 
sustained by many well-known facts and circum- 
stances, render it difficult to reject ; and had it not 
been for the questionable position he occupied, and 
his vain-glorious manner throughout, his expos4 
would have been much more effective. 



A STOBM-CLOVD BISES. 2M 

lie evidently failed in drawing off from the sup- 
port of the prophet, a number of prominent men, 
who were disaffected and manifesting a rebellious 
spirit, but wdio afterwards followed him, reiterating 
most of his charges and statements. Had they 
openly declared themselves as he did, and when he 
did, the prophet would have had a formidable rebel- 
lion on his hands, that he might not have been able 
to subdue. 



232 THE PROPHET OF PALMYPJ^, 



CHAPTER XXV. 

A PEESIDEXTIAL CANDIDATE. 

For President of the United States, Gex. Joseph Smith, 
OF Nauvoo, Illinois ; For Vice-President, Sidney Eig- 

DON, OF PeNNSYLVANTA. 

Among the many methods adopted by the Mormon 
prophet for obtaining notoriety, was that of causing 
himself to be proclaimed a candidate for President 
of the United States. In the memorable campaign 
of 1840, such of the Mormons as had acquired cit- 
izenship in Illinois, had supported Harrison and 
Tyler. General Harrison had now gone to his rest 
and Tyler was near the close of his accidental term. 
All parties were discussing presidential probabili- 
ties. Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun were re- 
garded as prominent candidates of their respective 
parties ; to each of these the prophet had addressed 
a long letter, requesting to be informed as to the 
policy he would pursue if elected, in relation to 
Mormon grievances. Unsatisfactory replies had 
been received from each of those statesmen, and 
commented upon in Smith's organ. On the 15th 
of February, 1844, said organ, under the editorial 
charge of John Taylor, a lately imported English 
recruit, printed a long leader on the question : 



A FliESIBENTIAL CANDIDATE 233 

* « AVlio bliiiU be our next Prefc^ideut ? " After dis- 
cussing the merits of the respective candidates from 
a Mormon standpoint, and finding them all wanting, 
the editor says : 

" Under these circumstances, the question again 
arises, who shall we support? Gexeeal Joseph 
Smith ! A man of sterling worth and integrity and 
of enlarged views ; a man who has raised himself 
from the humblest walks in life to stand at the head 
of a large, intelligent, respectable, and increasing 
society, that has spread not only in this land, but 
in distant nations ; a man whose talents and genius 
are of an exalted nature, and whose experience has 
rendered him every ^vay adequate to the onerous 
duty. Honorable, fearless and energetic ; he would 
administer justice with an impartial hand, and mag- 
nify and dignify the office of chief magistrate of 
this land ; and we feel assured there is not a man 
in the United States more competent for the 
task." ( ! ! ) 

And after several more paragraphs, our editor 

concludes : 

"Whatever therefore 6e the opinions of other 
men, our course is marked out, and our motto from 
henceforth will be GENERAL JOSEPH SMITH." 

And the next issue of the Times and Seasons 

contained the announcement : 

a p'gy President, 

"General Joseph Smith, Xauvoo, Illinois"; 

and subsequent issues contained in addition : 

" For Vice-President, 

" SiDXEY RiGDON, of Pennsylvania." 



234 THE PliOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

This ticket stood till Mr. Smith was killed, on 
June 27th, the same year. We have not learned 
that any effort was ever made to form an Electoral 
ticket in Illinois or an}^ other State. Had he lived, 
and such ticket had been formed, he would have 
obtained some votes most probably in several of 
the States of the Union, under the full faith that 
he would be elected. 

But how it was that Joseph Smith became a citi- 
zen of Illinois, and Sidney Eigdon a citizen of 
Pennsylvania, when they both had resided at 
Nauvoo for several years with their families — both 
coming here the same year from Missouri, and to 
Missouri from Ohio at the same time — was one of 
the many Mormon problems. 



AJSr IMPENDING CBISIS. 235 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

AN IMPENDING CKISIS. 

Rumblings of a Volcano— A Secession Organized— An Op- 
position Church — A Newspaper " Nuisance " Abated. 

The conduct of politicians and political parties 
during the campaign of 1843, gave a new impulse 
to the anti-Mormon sentiment, and measures to pre- 
vent its recurrence began to be taken. The late 
election fully developed the fact, that, although 
two or three good men had been chosen to office — 
men not objectionable to the great body of the 
people — practically the whole county and district 
were at the beck of the prophet. Four of the 
county officers were Mormons, and one of them 
was not even a resident of the county, but held a 
similar office at the time in a distant county ; but 
having joined the church was intending to settle 
in Nauvoo.* An effort to reorganize the Anti- 
Mormon party was determined on, and a mass con- 
vention was held at the county seat on the 7th of 
September, at which preliminary measures were 

* James Adams, when elected Probate Judge in Hancock, 
was residing in Springfield, and holding the same office in 
Sangamon County. 



236 th:e phophet of palmypa. 

taken. Among the resolutions passed was one 
which, in view of past events, was impolitic, and 
should have been omitted — requesting the Gov- 
ernor of Missouri to make another demand for 
Smith, and pledging aid in the execution of the 
writ. 

In the mean time, frequent difficulties were oc- 
curring between the Gentiles and Mormons over the 
county and at Xauvoo, which kept alive the excite- 
ment. Numerous acts of tyranny were perpetrated 
by the prophet on citizens of the county, and even 
on his own followers ; and heavy fines were inflicted, 
at his instance, for no punishable ofi"ense, by the 
municipal court, or by himself as mayor or pre- 
siding officer of the court. K he committed an of- 
fense against an individual which rendered him 
liable, he had invented an easy way of escape — 
which was to procure an arrest by some of his 
tools, have an ex-jparte hearing, and get discharged ; 
then, when an officer called upon him with an 
honest writ, he was coolly informed that he was too 
late. 

General Bennett's expose referred to several of 
the j)rominent leaders by name, as being disaffected 
and having good cause for their rebellious attitude. 
These never afterwards became heartily reconciled, 
though they refused to ** come out," when so 
strongly urged by the General. They were not 



Ay IMFEXDIKG CBISIS. 237 

ready, but would bide their time. Some of thetec 
were Sidney Rigdon, Bishop Marks, George W. 
Robinson, Wilson and William Law, Dr. Robert 
D. and Charles A. Foster, and Francis M. and 
Chauncey L. Higbee, and a number of others of 
lesser note and position in the church. To these 
may be added Sylvester Emmans, an attorney at 
law and a member of the city council, who was not 
a church member. None of these had ever been 
fully restored in the prophet's confidence since the 
secession of the Major-General ; and the breach 
was daily widening. Dr. Foster had been elected 
school commissioner of the county by Mormon 
votes, probably as a means of keeping him loyal 
and quiet. 

During the winter and spring of 1844, the breach 
had widened to the extent of organizing a new 
church, and one was instituted in April or May, 
with William Law as its President ; but he dis- 
claimed any prophetic attainments or privileges. 
It was also decided to establish a new paper in the 
city as their organ, and with it to fight the 
prophet. Accordingly, in May a printing press and 
materials arrived by steamer from St. Louis, and 
were landed and hauled into the city and set up 
without molestation. Of course these events caused 
great excitement, not only in the city among the 
faithful but over the whole country. Evidently a 



238 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

crisis was approaching. The lion was being bearded 
in his very den. His own cubs were growling de- 
fiance. 

In the mean time the habeas corpus — ^the great 
safeguard of liberty everywhere else, but atNauvoo 
the great engine of despotic power — was not in- 
active. In May, Mr. Francis M. Higbee, one of the 
seceders, commenced against the prophet a civil 
action for slander, in the Hancock circuit court, 
on which, in accordance with usage, a capias was 
issued. On this being served by the Sheriff, in- 
stead of entering bail for his appearance, Smith 
obtained a writ of habeas corpus from the city court 
and was set at liberty. About the same time, one 
Jeremiah Smith, an Iowa defaulter to the United 
States government, fled to the city for protection ; 
was arrested there by a United States Marshal, 
and twice released by the habeas corpus — the court 
rendering a judgment for costs against the United 
States ! 

The May term of the Hancock circuit court 
commenced its session at Carthage on the 20th, 
Hon. Jesse B. Thomas presiding. At this term, 
four cases were on docket against the prophet, and 
were disposed of as follows ; 

Alexander Sympson — For false imprisonment : 
change of venue to Adams County. 



A]^ IMPENDING CRISIS. 239 

Francis M. Higbee — For slander : change to the 
County of McDonough. 

Charles A. Foster — False imprisonment ; to the 
County of McDonough. 

Amos Davis — For trespass : to McDonough 
County. 

These were all civil actions. At the same term, 
two indictments were found against Smith by the 
grand jury — one for adultery,, and one for perjury. 
To the surprise of all, on the Monday following 
these presentments, the prophet appeared in court 
and demanded trial on the last-named indictment. 
The prosecution not being ready, a continuance 
was taken to the next term. 

In the mean time the seceders were not idle. 
President Law boldly denounced the prophet from 
the platform in the city ; while the others were 
busy among the people in and out of the city. The 
prospectus for the new paper was extensively cir- 
culated, and received with much encouragement. 
Its title was to be the JSTauvoo Expositor^ and 
its purposes as set forth in the prospectus were : 

<'The unconditional repeal of the city charter ; 
to correct the abuses of the unit power ; to advo- 
cate disobedience to political revelations." 

In short, its purpose was to oppose the prophet 
Smith, and reform the abuses of which he was 
claimed to be the author. 



210 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA, 

Th6 paper was issued under date of June 7, 
1844. It had for its editor Sylvester Emmans, 
and the names of William Law, Wilson Law, 
Charles Ivins, Francis M. Higbee, Chauncey L. 
Higbee, Robert D. Foster, and Charles A. Foster, 
as its publishers. In a literary point of view, it 
exhibited little talent. It had evidently been pre- 
pared in a hurry and under excitement, and with 
no attempt at artistic arrangement. A1)out half of 
its reading matter was made up from miscellaneous 
selections. Of its original contents, five or six 
columns were occupied with a " Preamble, Resolu- 
tions, and Affidavits of the Seceders from the 
Church at Nauvoo" ; giving reasons for their action, 
and making charges against the prophet and his 
adherents. A number of editorial articles followed, 
mostly of the same purport, couched in strong 
language, but not remarkable for ability or point. 

As we have seen, the professed aim and purpose 
of this sheet were to expose the enormities prac- 
ticed by the prophet and his followers at Nauvoo. 
And from the statements and proofs adduced, and 
from corroborative facts — making all due allow- 
ance for exaggeration, and vindictive feeling — we 
are compelled to accept many of them as true. 
Yet, it is painful to remember that while they were 
showing Joseph Smith to have been a desperately 
))ad man, they were — to put it in as mild a way as 



A]\^ IMPENDING CIU^IIS. 241 

possible — adding little to tlieiu own characters ; in- 
asmuch as for years they had been his supporters 
and defenders, and (having been in his confidence) 
must have known long before what his true char- 
acter was, and that all his pretensions to religion 
and sanctity were false. And it will be remem- 
bered, too, that when Dr. Bennett revolted, but a 
short period before, and made the same or similar 
charges, all, or most of these men made public 
contradiction of them. 

Sidney Rigdon, who, taking their statements 
with Bennett's to be true, had as much cause as 
any one to come out and denounce their chief, 
still refused — until after the prophet's death, when 
Brigham Young and the Twelve had thrown him 
overboard. Did Eigdon know^ of Smith's villainies, 
after fourteen years' association ^vith him ? These 
seceders all gave countenance to one Joseph H. 
Jackson, in his exposures — a new-comer, who, as 
he says, had only been in Smith's confidence a 
little time ; and Jackson published a pamphlet 
stating that the prophet had confided to him that 
he was a counterfeiter, an adulterer, an instigator 
of murder (as in the case of Governor Boggs) , and 
that the Booh of Mormon and the Golden Plates 
were frauds. This Jackson may have been a fraud 
and a falsifier himself; it is true that his statements, 
excepting wherein corro])orated, did not gain full 



242 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

credence. Yet many of them coincided with those 
of the seceders. And is it likely that Jackson in 
a few months would be able to gain more of the 
prophet's confidence, than would these in several 
years' intimacy? 

The life of the Expositor w&s a shoii: one. This first 
issue was its final one. It was issued on Friday, 
the 7th of June, and on Saturday the 8th, the city 
council was in session considering what should be 
done. They deliberated all that day and all day 
Monday, and at six o'clock in the evening passed a 
resolution declaring the Expositor a nuisance, and 
instructing the Mayor to cause it to be abated — - 
which he did about eight o'clock the same evening. 

An extra of the Nauvoo Neighbor, the weekly 
organ, containing a certified copy of the proceed- 
ings of the council on those two days, now lies be- 
fore us. It is due to them that their side of the 
controversy should be given ; and this extra fully 
and at great length sets forth the reasons for their 
action. Besides, it should be preserved for all time 
to come as a curiosity, and as illustrating to future 
law-makers the nature of a nuisance, and the proper 
mode of treating it. It will be found entire in the 
next chapter. 

It was stated by Gentiles who were present dur- 
ing the deliberations of the council, that the 
brothers, Hyrum and Joseph Smith, were at time 



AN UfPENDING CBISIS. 243 

greatly excited, and indulged in violent language. 
The latter was reported to liave vehemently ex- 
exclaimed : *^If you will not stick by me, and 
ivade to your hnees in blood for my sake, yon may 
go to h — II and he d — d; and I will go and build 
another city ! " Hyrum was repoi-ted to have said : 
<' We had better send a message to long-nosed Sharp 
[editor of the Warsaw Signal~\ that if he does not 
look out, he might be visited with a pinch of snuff 
that will make him sneeze ! " And he continued : ** If 
any person will go to Warsaw boldly, in daylight, 
and break the press of the Signal office with a 
sledge-hammer, I will bear him out in it, if it 
costs me a farm. He could only be taken with a 
warrant at any rate, and what good would that do ? " 
In view of habeas co?'^us, that was a significant 
question. 

Of course such language would not be reported 
in the organ. It is proper to state, however, that 
Hyrum and his friends made emphatic denial of 
having made threats against the Signal or its editor. 

The report in the extra is to be taken as con- 
clusive of the reasons for the destruction of the 
pre«s. When analyzed, they resolve themselves 
into these half-dozen propositions. 

1. Sylvester Emmans was poor when he came to 
the city, with only two shirts to his back, 



244 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

2. The Laws oppressed the poor, by adhering to 
their rules in grinding grain. 

3. Besides, they had dunned the prophet for 
money due them. 

4. Dr. Foster had been too intimate with a sister 
in Ohio — and he had written the Mayor a saucy 
letter. 

5. Wilson Law had seduced another sister, and — 

6. They had all misrepresented the spiritual wife 
doctrine. 

And these six counts, with several more of minor 
importance, amounted to treason against the inde- 
pendent sovereignty of Nauvoo, and the head there- 
of, and rendered the printing press of the traitors* 
a nuisance, and it must be destroyed I Even in 
this the Mayor transcended the authority given him 
by the council. The resolution instructed him to 
abate the nuisance by removal; he issued his order 
to the City Marshal to destroy the press and pi the 
tj/pes in the street, and if necessary demolish the 
house, and arrest all who opposed. 



GIVING THE BEASON WHY, 245 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

GIVING THE REASON WHY. 

A Strange Documext — Kecitixg Proceedings of the 
Nauvoo City Council, Kegarding the "Expositor" 
;N"uisance — Official, 

The document which follows is a verbatim copy 
of a half-sheet extra which was issued from the 
office of the Xauvoo JSfeighhor soon after the de- 
struction of the Expositor office. It is given entire, 
Editorials, Mayor's Proclamation, Clerk's State- 
ment and all, as showing their side of the question 
and their reasons for the course pursued. It is 
valuable, too, as showing to the Gentile world what 
kind of people these Latter-Day Saints were, thus 
congregated together in the holy city : 

NAUYOO NEIGHBOR EXTRA. 

[Editorial.] 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

*'As a soft breeze in a hot day mellows the air, 
so does the simple truth xjalm the feelings of the 
irritated, and so we proceed to give the proceed- 
ings of the city council relating to the removnl of 
the Nauvoo Expositor as a nuij^^ance. We have 



246 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

been robbed, mobbed and plundered with impunity 
some two or three times, and as every heart is 
more apt to know its own sorrows, the people of 
Xauvoo had ample reason, when such characters as 
the proprietors and abettors of the ^auvoo Expos- 
itor proved to be before the city council, to be 
alarmed for their safety. The men who got up the 
press were constantly engaged in resisting the au- 
thority or threatening something. If they were 
lined an appeal was taken, but the slander went on ; 
and when the paper came, the course and the plan 
to destroy the city was marked out. The destruc- 
tion of the city charter and the ruin of the Saints 
was the all-commanding topic. Our lives, our city, 
our charter, and our characters are just as sacred, 
just as dear, and just as good as other people's ; 
and while no friendly arm has been extended from 
the demolition of our press in Jackson County, 
Missouri, without law, to this present day, the 
city council, with all the law of nuisance, from 
Blackstone down to the Springfield city charter, 
knowing that if they exceeded the law of the land, 
a higher court would regulate the proceedings, 
abated the Xauvoo Expositor. 

The proceedings of the council show, as sketched, 
that there was cause of alarm. The people when 
they reflect will at once say that the feelings and 
rights of men ought to be respected. All persons 
otherwise, and without recourse to justice, mercy, 
or humanity, to come out with inflammatory pub- 
lications, destructive resolutions, or more especially 
extermination, shows a want of respect and a want 
of religious toleration, that honorable men w411 
deprecate among Americans, as they would the 
pestilence, famine, or the horrors of war. It can- 
not be that the people are so lost to virtue as to 
coolly go to murdering men, women, and children. 
No. Candor and common sense forbid it." 



GIVING THE BEASON WHY^ 247 

Clerk's Statement. 

For the Neighbor. 

*' IVIr. Editor : In your last week's paper I pro- 
posed giving your readers an account of the pro- 
ceedings of the city council, but time forbids 
anything more than a brief synopsis of the proceed- 
ings of the municipality of the city of Nauvoo, 
relative to the destruction of the press, and fixtures 
of the Nauvoo Expositor, 

*' CITY COUNCIL, REGULAR SESSION. 

'' Jime 8, 1884. 

*' In connexion with other business, as stated in 
last week's paper, the Mayor remarked that he be- 
lieved it generally the case, that when a man goes 
to law he has an unjust cause, and wants to go 
before some one who wants business, and that he 
had very few cases on his docket ; and referring 
to Councillor Emmons, editor of the Nauvoo Ex- 
positor, suggested the propriety of first purging 
the city council ; and referring to the character of 
the paper and proprietors, called up Theodore 
Turley, a mechanic, who, being sworn, said that 
the Laws ("V^im. and Wilson) had brought bogus 
dies to him to fix. 

" Councillor Hyrum Smith inquired what good 
Foster and his brother, and the Higbees, and the 
Laws had ever done ; while his brother Joseph was 
under arrest, from the Missouri persecution, the 
Laws and Foster would have been rode on a rail, 
if he had not stepped forward to prevent it, on 
account of their oppressing the poor. 

" Mayor said, while he was under arrest 1)y writ 
from Governor Carlm, Wm. Law, pursued him for 
$40 he was owing Law, and it took the last expense 
money he had to pay it. 

*' Councillor H. Smith, referred to J. H. Jack- 



248 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

son's coming to this city, &c. Mayor said, Wm. 
Law, had offered Jackson, $500 to kill him. 

'* Councillor, H. Smith, continued, Jackson, told 
him, he (Jackson,) meant to have h'*s daughter; 
and threatened him if he made any resistance. 
Jackson, related to him a dream ; that Joseph and 
Hyrum were opposed to him, but that he would 
execute his purposes ; that Jackson, had laid a plan 
^vith four or five persons to kidnap his daughter, 
and threatened to shoot any one that should come 
near, after he had got her in the skiff; That Jackson, 
was enoao'ed in tryino- to make Boo-us, which was his 
principal business, — referred to the revelation, read 
to the high council of the church, which has caused 
so much talk about a multiplicity of wives ; that said 
Eevelation was in answer to a question concerning 
things which transpired in former days, and had no 
reference to the present time. That when sick, 
Wm. Law, confessed to him that he had been 
' guilty of adultery,' and ' was not fit to live,' and 
had ' sinned against his own soul,' &c. , and inquired, 
who was Judge Emmons? AYhen he came here 
he had scarce two shirts fo his back, but he had 
been dandled by the authorities of the city, &c. 
and was now editor of the ' ' Nauvoo Expositor," and 
his right hand man Francis M. Higbee, who had 
confessed to him that he had * *. 

*' Washington Peck, sworn, said soon after Jo- 
seph H. Jackson came here, he came to witness to 
borrow money, which witness loaned him, and took 
some jewelry as security. Soon after a man from 
across the river came after the jewelry, — Jackson, 
had stolen the jewelry from him. At another time 
wanted to get money of witness, asked witness if 
he would do anything dishonorable to get a liviiag. 
Witness said he would not. Jackson said witness 
was a damned fool, for he could get a living a deal 
easier than he was then doing by making Bogus, 



GIVING _VHE BEASON WHY 249 

and some men liigli in the church was engaged in 
the business. Witness asked if it was Joseph. No 
said Jackson, I dare not tell it to Joseph. AVitness 
understood liim, the Laws was engaged in it. 
Jackson said he Avould be the death of witness, 
if he ever went to Joseph or any one else to tell 
what he had said. 

" Ordered by the council that, Sylvester Em- 
mons, be suspended until his case could be in- 
vestigated for slandering the city council, that 
the recorder notify him of his suspension, and that 
his case would come up for investigation at the next 
regular session of the council. [The order is in the 
hands of the marshal.] 

** Councillor J. Taylor said that Councillor Em- 
mons helped to make the ordinances of the city, 
and had never lifted his voice against them in the 
council, and was now trying to destroy the ordi- 
nances and the charter. 

*' Lorenzo Wasson, sworn, said Joseph H. Jack- 
son, told witness, that Bogus making was going on 
ui the city ; — but it was too damned small business. 
Wanted witness to help him to procure money, for 
the general, (Smith,) was afraid to go into it, and 
with $500 he could get an engraving for bills on 
the bank of Missouri, and one on the state of New 
York, and could make money, — said many times 
witness did not know him ; — believed the general 
had been telling witness something. God damn 
him if he has I will kill him, — swore he would kill 
any man that should prove a traitor to him. Jack- 
son said if he could get a company of men to suit 
him, he would go into the frontiers and live by high- 
way robbery, had got sick of the world. 

** Mayor suggested that the council pass an ordi- 
nance to prevent misrepresentation and libellous 
publications, and conspiracies against the peace of 
the city ; and referring to the reports that Dr. Fos- 



250 THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYPA. 

ter had set afloat, said he had never made any pro- 
posals to Foster to come hack to the church. Foster 
proposed to come back ; came to Mayor's house and 
wanted a private intei-^dew ; had some conversation 
with Foster in the hall, in presence of several gen- 
tlemen, on the 7th inst. ; oifered to meet him and 
have an inter^dew in presence of friends, three or 
four to be selected by each party — which Foster 
agreed to ; and went to bring his friends for the 
inter^dew, and the next notice he had of him was 
the following letter : 

''June 7th, 1844. 
'' To Gen. J, Smith: 

' ' SiE : — I have consulted my friends in relation to 
your proposals of settlements, and they as well as 
myself are of the opinion that your conduct and 
that of your unworthy, unprincipled clan is so base 
that it would be morallv wrono- and detract from 
the dignity of gentlemen to hold any conference 
with you. The repeated insults and abuses, I as 
well as my friends have sufiered from your unlaw- 
ful course towards us demands honoral:)le resent- 
ment. We are resolved to make this our motto ; 
nothing on our part has been done to provoke your 
anger but have done all things as become men. 
You have trampled upon every thing Ave hold dear 
and sacred, you have set all law at defiance and 
profaned the name of the most high to cany out 
your damnable purposes — and I have nothing more 
to fear from you than you have already threatened. 
And I as well as my friends will stay here and 
maintain and magnify the law as long as we stay — 
and we are resolved never to leave until we sell or 
exchange our property that we have here. The 
proposals made by your agent Dimick Huntington 
as well as the threats you sent to intimidate me, I 
disdain and despise as I do their unhallowed author. 
The right of my family and my friends, demand at 



GIVING THE REASON WHY. 251 

my hand a refusal of all your offers ; we are united 
in virtue and truth, and we set hell at defiance and 
all her agents adieu. R. D. FOSTER. 

''To General J. Smith, 

** Mayor continued : — And when Foster left his 
house, he went to a shoe shop on the hill and re- 
ported, that * Joseph said to him if he would come 
back he would give him Law's place in the church, 
and a hat full of specie.' 

*'Lucian Woodworth, sworn, said that the con- 
versation as stated by the Mayor was correct ; was 
at the Mansion June 7th when Dr. Foster rode up 
and inquired if General Smith was at home — Dr. 
Foster went into the house — witness followed. Dr. 
Foster was there, the General and others looking 
at some specimens of penmanship, something was 
said respecting a conversation at that time, between 
the General and Dr. ; General Smith observed to 
Foster, if he had a conversation he would want 
others present. The doctor said he would have a 
word with him by himself; and went into the Hall. 
Witness went to the door, that he might see and 
hear what was passing. They still continued to 
talk on the subject of a conversation that they 
might have afterwards with others present, whom 
Mr. Smith mio^ht choose and Foster mio:ht choose. 
Foster left, and went for them that he said he 
wanted present, and would return soon with them 
— ^thinks he heard all the conversation, heard noth- 
ing about General Smith's maldng any offers to Fos- 
ter to settle, was present all the time. Dimick 
Huntington said he had seen Foster and talked with 
him. 

'* Mayor said he wished it distinctly understood 
that he knew nothing about Dimick Huntington 
going to see Foster. 

** Woodworth said he sent Dimick Huntington 
to Foster, and Joseph knew nothing about it. 



252 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

*' Counsellor H. Smith said Dimick Huntington 
came to him on the 7th inst. and said he had had 
an interview with Dr. Foster, and thought he was 
about ready to come back, and a word from him to 
Joseph would bring it about. 

" Mayor said, the conduct of such men, and such 
papers are calculated to destroy the peace of the 
city ; and it is not safe that such things should exist, 
on account of the mob spirit which the}^ tend to 
produce ; he had made the statements he had, and 
called the witnesses to prepare the council to act in 
the case. 

«' Emmons was blackguarded out of Philadelphia, 
and dubbed with the title of judge (as he had under- 
Stood from citizens of Philadelphia) was poor, and 
Mayor helped him to cloth for a coat before he 
went away last fall, and he labored all winter to 
get the post office from Mr. Rigdon (as informed) . 

" Mayor referred to a writing from Dr. Goforth, 
showing that the Laws presented the communication 
from the ' Female Relief Society ' in the Nauvoo 
Neighbor, to Dr. Goforth, as the hone of contention, 
and said, if God ever spake by any man, it will 
not be five years before this city is in ashes and we 
in our graves, unless we go to Oregon, California, 
or some other place, if the city does not put down 
every thing which tends to mobocracy, and put 
down their murderers, bogus makers and scoundrels ; 
all the sorrow he ever had in his family has arisen 
through the influence of Wm. Law. 

" C. H. Smith spoke in relation to the Laws, 
Fosters, Higbees, Editor of the Signal, &c., and of 
the importance of suppressing that spirit which has 
driven us from Missouri &c., that he would go in 
for an effective ordinance. 

"Mayor said, at the time Governor Carlin was 
pursuing him with his writs, Wm. Law came to his 
house with a band of Missourians for the purpose 



GIVING THE BEASON WHY. 263 

of betraying him. Came to his gate, and was pre- 
vented by Daniel Cairns, who was set to watch ; Law 
came within his gate, and called Mayor, and the 
Mayor reproved Law^ for coming at that time of 
night, with a company of strangers. 

** Daniel Cairns, sworn, said that about 10 o'clock 
at night, a boat came up the river with about a 
dozen men. Wm. Law came to the gate with them, 
witness on guard. Stopped them. Law called 
Joseph to the door, and w^anted an interview. 
Joseph said, Bro. Law you know better than to 
come here at this hour of the night, and Law re- 
tired — next morning Law wrote a letter to apolo- 
gize, which witness heard read — which was written 
apparently to screen himself from the censure of a 
conspiracy and the letter betrayed a conspiracy on 
the face of it. 

''Adjourned at half past 6 p. m., till Monday 
10th at 10 o'clock a. m. Adjourned session June 
10th, 10 o'clock, A. M. Alderman Harris pre- 
siding. 

" Mayor, referred to Dr. Foster — and again read 
his letter of the 7th inst. (as before quoted) . 

" Cyrus Hills, a stranger sworn : said one day last 
week, believed it Wednesday, a gentleman, whom 
witness did not know came into the sitting room of 
the ' Nauvoo Mansion,' and requested the Hon. 
Mayor to step aside — he wanted to speak with him. 
Mayor stepped through the door into the entry, by 
the foot of the stairs, and the General (Mayor) 
asked him what he wished? Foster (as witness 
learned since the gentleman's name) , said he wanted 
some conversation on some business witness did 
not understand at the time ; the General refused to go 
any farther, and said he would have no conversa- 
tion in private, what should be said should be in 
public ; and told Foster if he would choose three 
or four men, he would meet him with the same num- 



254 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA, 

ber of men (among whom was his brother Hyrum), ^ 
and they would have a cool and calm investigation 
of the subject, and by his making a proper satis- 
faction, things should be honorably adjusted. Wit- 
ness judged from the manner in which Foster ex- 
pressed himself that he agreed to the Mayor's 
proposals, and would meet him the same day, in 
presence of friends ; heard no proposals made by 
ilayor to Foster for settlement, heard nothing about 
any offers of dollars, or money, or any other offer 
except those mentioned before ; nothing said about 
Wm. Law ; was within hearing of the parties at the 
time conversation was going on. 

*' O. P. Kockwell, sworn. Some day last week, 
said Dr. Foster rode up to the Xauvoo Mansion 
and went in, witness went in and found the Ma^or 
and Dr. Foster in conversation. General Smith 
was naming the men he would have present, among 
whom was Hyrum Smith, Wni. Marks, Lucian 
Woodworth, and Peter Hawes, and Dr. Foster had 
leave to call an equal number of his friends, as 
witness understood, for the purpose of having an 
interview on some matters in conversation. 

' ' The doctor's brother was proposed . General said 
he had no objections, wanted him present. Dr. Fos- 
ter started, saying he would be back shortly. Before 
Dr. F. left, the men whom General Smith had 
named to be present at the conversation were sent for. 
Cross-examined : witness went into the house as 
Mayor and Dr. Foster were coming out of the Bar 
Room into the Hall ; nothing said by the Mayor to 
Dr. Foster about his coming back, — made no offer 
to Foster about a settlement. 

'« Mayor said the first thing that occurred when he 
stepped into the hall with Foster was that he wanted 
to assassinate him ; he saw something shining be- 
low his vest ; Mayor put his finger on it and said, 
what is that? Foster replied it is my pistol, and 



GIVING THE BEASON WHY. 255 

immediately took out the pistol, and showed it 
openly, and wanted the Mayor to go with him alone. 
Mayor said he would not go alone. Mayor never 
saw the pistol before ; had a hook on its side, to 
hang on his waist-coat. 

** Andrew L. Lmiaraux, sworn, said that in 1839 
or 40 while President Joseph Smith, Elder Rigdon, 
Judge Higbee, O. P. Rockwell and Dr. R. D. Fos- 
ter, on their way to Washington, called at witness's 
house in Dayton, Ohio, that the evening was spent 
very agreea1)ly excei)t some dissatisfaction on the 
part of certain females with regard to the conduct 
of Dr. Foster. On their return from AYasliington wit- 
ness informed President Smith of Foster's conduct. 
President Smith said he had frequently reproved 
Foster for such conduct and he had promised to do 
better, and told witness to reprove Foster if he saw 
anything out of the way. That evening Foster 
refused to join the company, and walked through 
the town till about 8 o'clock when he came in and 
interrupted President Smith, who was expounding 
some passages of scriptures, and changed the conver- 
sation. Soon after the company was invited to Mr. 
Brown's at the next door, whither they all repaired. 
While at Mr. Brown's, conversation going on, and 
the room much crowded. Dr. Foster and one of the 
ladies he had paid so much attention to before took 
their seats in one corner of the room. Witness 
heard her state to Dr. Foster that she supposed she 
had been enciente for some time back, but had been 
disappointed, and supposed it was on account of her 
weakness, and wanted Foster to prescribe something 
for her. Foster said he could do it for her, and 
dropped his hand to her feet, and began to raise it, 
she gave him a slight push and threw herself close 
to the wall. 

" He laid his hand on her knee, and whispered 
so low that witness could not hear. Next mornins: 



256 THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYPA. 

witness went in while Foster and others were at 
breakfast and related what he had seen. Foster 
denied it. President Smith told him not to deny 
it for he saw it himself and was ashamed of it. 
Foster confessed it was true, and promised to reform. 

*' Peter Hawes sworn — Said that he came to 
Nauvoo before the Laws and brought considerable 
property ; it was a short time after the church had 
been driven out of Missouri and had arrived in this 
place. The families having been robbed of all in Mis- 
souri were in a starving condition. By the coun- 
sel of the Presidency, witness converted his funds 
to feeding the poor, bringing in meat and flour, &c., 
and while thus engaged drew upon the Laws, who 
were at that time engaged in merchandise to the 
amount of some six hundred dollars, which, on 
account of expenditure for the poor, he was not 
able to pay, to within some 70 or 80 dollars — 
which they pressed him for as soon as they wanted 
it — although he ofi'ered them good property at con- 
siderable less than the market value. As witness 
was obliged to leave the city on church business 
for a little season, Wm. Law threatened and intim- 
idated witness's family during his absence for the 
pay. 

" Dr. Foster made a public dinner on the 4th of 
July. Witness was obliged to be absent and de- 
posited meat, flour, &c., with Wm. Law, to give 
to the poor at that dinner, and Law handed it out 
as his own private property. Witness carried a 
load of wheat to Law's mill to be ground — Law 
would not grind it only to give a certain quantity 
of flour in return by weight. Law used up the 
flour, promising from time to time he would refund 
it. As witness was about to start on a mission to 
the south, with his valise in hand, saw Law before 
his door, talking with Hyrum Smith ; called un 
Law and told him he was going away, and his family 



GIVING THE SEASON WHY. 257 

wanted the flour : Law promised on the honor of a 
gentleman and a Saint, his family should have the 
flour when they wanted. 

*' Councillor H. Smith said he recollected the 
time and circumstance. 

'* Hawes said when he returned, found his family 
must have starved if they had not borrowed money 
to get food somewhere else — could not get it of Law. 
And Law ^as in^eachm^y: puncfiiaUff/, puxctuality, 
PUXCTUALITY, as the whole drift of his dis- 
courses to the Saints, and abusing them himself all 
the time, and grinding the poor. 

" Mayor said if he had a city council who felt as 
he did, the establishment (referring to the Xauvoo 
JExpositor) would be a nuisance before night — and 
he then read an editorial from the Nam^oo Expos- 
itor. He then asked who ever said a word against 
Judge Emmons until he has attacked this council, — 
or even against Joseph H. Jackson or the Laws, 
until they came out against the city? Here is a 
paper (ISTauvoo Expositor), that is exciting our 
enemies abroad. Joseph H. Jackson has been 
proved a murderer before this council, declared the 
paper a nuisance, a greater nuisance than a dead 
carcass ; they make a criminality for a man to have 
a wife on the earth, while he has one in heaven, 
according to the keys of the holy priesthood, and he 
then read a statement of ^Villiam Law's from the 
Expositor, where the truth of God was transformed 
into a lie concerning this thing. He then read several 
statements of Austin Cowles in the Expositor con- 
cerning a private interview, and said he never had 
any private conversation with Austin Cowles on these 
subjects ; that he preached on the stand from the 
Bible, showing the order in ancient daj^s, having 
nothing to do with the present times. What the oppo- 
sition party want, is to raise a mob on us and take 
the spoil from us, as they did in Missouri. He said 



268 THE PROPHET OF FALMYBA, 

it was as mucli as he could do to keep his clerk, 
Thompson, from publishing the proceedings of the 
Laws and causing the people to rise up against 
them. Said he would rather die to-morrow and 
have the thhig smashed, than live and have it go 
on, for it was exciting the spirit of mobocracy 
among the people and bringing death and destruc- 
tion upon us. 

" Peter Hawes recalled a circumstance, which he 
had forgot to mention, concerning a Mr. Smith who 
came from England and soon after died — the chil- 
dren had no one to protect them ; there was one 
girl 16 or 17 years old and a younger sister. Wit- 
ness took these girls into his family out of pity. — 
Wilson Law, then Major-General of the Nauvoo 
Legion, was familiar with the eldest daughter. — 
Witness cautioned the girl. — Wilson was soon there 
again and went out in the evening with the girl, 
who when charged by the witness's wife confessed 
that Wilson Law had seduced her. Witness told 
her he could not keep her. The girl wept, made 
much ado, and many promises — witness told her if 
she would do right, she might stay, but she did not 
keep her promise. Wilson came again and she 
went out with him. Witness required her to leave 
his house. 

'* Mayor said certain women came to complain to 
his wife, — ^that they had caught Wilson Law with 
the girl on the floor at Mr. Hawes's in the night. 

*< Councillor C. H. Smith proceeded to show the 
falsehood of Austin Cowles in the Expositor in re- 
lation to the revelation referred to, that it was in 
reference to former days, and not the present time 
as related by Cowles. 

* ' Mayor said he had never preached the revela- 
tion in private, as he had in public, — ^had not taught 
it to the anointed in the church in private, which 
statement many present confirmed, thia,t on inquir- 



BTVTJSrG THE BEASON WHY. 259 

ing concerning the passage in the resurrection con- 
cerning ' they neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage,' &c., he received for answer, 'Men in this life 
must marry in view of eternity, otherwise they must 
remain as angels, or be single in heaven,' Avhich was 
the amount of the revelation referred to ; and the 
Mayor spoke at considerable length in explanation 
of this principle and was willing for one to sub- 
scribe his name, to declare the Expositor and whole 
establishment a nuisance. 

'* 2 o'clock p. m. 

<' The clerk of the council bore testimony of the 
good character and high standing of Mr. Smith and 
his family, whose daughter was seduced by Wilson 
Law, as stated by the last witness before the morn- 
ing council, that Mrs. Smith died near the mouth 
of the Mississippi, and the father and eldest daugh- 
ter died soon after their arrival in this place ; and 
that the seduction of such a youthful, fatherless, 
and innocent creature by such a man in high stand- 
ing as the Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion, 
was one of the darkest, damnedest and foulest deeds 
on record. 

<' Councillor Hyrum Smith concurred in the 
remarks made by the clerk concerning the excellent 
character of Mr. Smith and his family. 

''Mayor said the constitution did not authorize 
the press to publish libels, and proposed that the 
council make some provision for putting down the 
Nauvoo Expositor. 

" Councillor Hyrum Smith called for a pro- 
spectus of the Expositor. 

"Councillor Phelps read article 8, section 1, 
Constitution of Illinois. 

" Mayor called for the charter. 

' ' The clerk read the prospectus of the Nauvoo 
Expositor. 

"Mayor read the statements of Francis M. 



260 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

Higbee from the Expositor unci asked, ' Is it not 
treasonable against all chartered rights and privi- 
leges, and against the peace and happiness of the 
city?' 

«* Councillor H. Smith was in favor of declaring 
the Expositor a nuisance. 

" Councillor Taylor said no city on earth would 
bear such slander, and he would not bear it, and 
was decidedly in favor of active measures. 

<* Mayor made a statement of what AYm. Law 
said before the city council under oath, that he was 
a friend to the Mayor, &c., &c., and asked if there 
were any present who recollected his statement, 
when scores responded, Yes ! 

" Councillor Hunter was one of the grand jury, 
said AYm. Law stated before the grand jury that he 
did not say to the council that he was Joseph's 
friend. 

* ' Councillor Taylor continued : ' Wilson Law 
was president of this council during the passage of 
many ordinances, and referred to the records. 
Wm. Law and Emmons were members of the coun- 
cil ; and Emmons has never objected to any ordi- 
nance while in the council ; but has been more like 
a cipher, and is now become editor of a libellous 
paper, and is trying to destroy our charter and 
ordinances.' He then read from the Constitution of 
the United States on the freedom of the press, and 
said : ' We are willing they should publish the 
truth ; but it is unlawful to publish libels ; the 
Expositor is a nuisance and stinks in the nose of 
every honest man.' 

" Mayor read from Illinois Constitution, article 
8, section 2, touching the responsibility of the 
press for its Constitutional liberty. 

" Councillor Stiles said a nuisance was anything 
that disturbs the peace of a community and read 
Blackstone on Private Wrongs, vol. 2, page 4, and 



GIVING THE BEATON WHY. 261 

the whole community has to rest under the stigma 
of these falsehoods, referring to the Expositor, and 
if we can prevent the issuing of any more slander- 
ous communications, he would go in for it. It is 
right for this community to show a proper resent- 
ment, and he would go in for suppressing all further 
communications of the kind. 

" Councillor H. Smith believed the best way was 
to smash the press and * pi ' the type. 

' ' Councillor Johnson concurred with the coun- 
cillors who had spoken. 

' 'Alderman Bennett referred to the statement of 
the Expositor concerning the municipal court in the 
case of Jeremiah Smith as a libel, and considered 
the paper a public nuisance. 

' ' Councillor Warrington considered his a peculiar 
situation, as he did not belong to any church or any 
party ; though it might be considered rather harsh 
for the council to declare the paper a nuisance, and 
proposed giving a few days' limitation and assess- 
ing a fine of $3,000 for cA^ery libel, and if they 
would not cease publishing libels, to declare it a 
nuisance ; and said the statutes made provision for 
a fine of $500. 

'* Mayor replied that they threatened to shoot 
him when at Carthage ; and the women and others 
dare not go to Carthage to prosecute, and read a 
libel from the Expositor concerning the imprison- 
ment of Jeremiah Smith. 

" Councillor H. Smith spoke of the Warsaw 
Signal and disapproved its libellous course. 

' * Mayor remarked he was sorry to have one dis- 
senting voice in declaring the Expositor a nuisance. 

*' Councillor Warrington did not mean to be 
understood to go against the proposition ; but 
would not be in haste in declaring it a nuisance. 

" Councillor H. Smith referred to the mortgages 
and property of the proprietors of the Expositor 



262 THE PBOPHET OF FALMYBA. 

and thouglit there would be little chance of col- 
lecting damages for libels. 

"Alderman E. Smith considered there was but 
one course to pursue, that the proprietors were out 
of reach of the law : that our course was to put an 
end to the thing at once ; believed by what he had 
heard that if the city did not do it others would. 

" Councillor Hunter believed it to be a nuisance ; 
referred to the opinion of Judge Pope on habeas 
corpus, and spoke in favor of the charter, &c. ; 
asked Francis M. Higbee before the grand jury, if 
he was not the man he saw at Joseph's house 
making professions of friendship ; Higbee said he 
was not [hundreds know this statement to be 
false] ; he also asked E. D. Foster if he did not state 
before hundreds of people that he believed Joseph 
to be a prophet ; ' no ' said Foster. They were 
under oath when the}^ said it. [Many hundreds of 
people are Avitness to this perjury.] 

"Alderman Spencer accorded with the views ex- 
pressed, that the Xauvoo Expositor is a nuisance, 
did not consider it wise to give them time to 
trumpet a thousand lies. Their propert}^ could not 
pay for it ; if we pass only a fine or imprisonment, 
have we any confidence that they will desist '? None 
at all ! We have found these men covenant-break- 
ers with God ! with their wives ! ! &c. Have we 
any hope of their doing better? Their characters 
have gone before them ; shall they be sufiered to 
go on, and bring a mob upon us and murder our 
women and children, and burn our beautiful city? 
No ! I had rather my blood would be spilled at 
once, and would like to have the press removed as 
goon as the ordinance would allow ; and wish the 
matter misfht be put into the hands of the Mayor, 
and everybody stand hj him in the execution of his 
duties, and hush every murmur. 

f ^.^ouncillor Levi Eichards said he had felt deeply 



GIVING THE BEASON WHY. 268 

on this subject, and concurred fully in the view 
General Smith had * expressed of it this day,' 
thought it unnecessary to repeat what the council 
perfectly understood ; considered private interest as 
nothing in comparison with the pul)lic good. Ever}^ 
time a line was formed in the Far West he was there, 
for what? To defend it against just such scoun- 
drels and influence as the Xauvoo Exjpositor and 
its supporters were directly calculated to bring 
against us again. Considered the doings of the 
council of this day of immense moment, not to this 
city alone, but to the whole world ; would go in to 
put a stop to the thing at once ; let it be thrown 
out of this city, and the responsibility of counte- 
nancing such a press be taken off our shoulders and 
fall on the State, if corrupt enough to sustain it. 

" Councillor Phineas Eichards said that he had 
not forgotten the transactions at Haun's Mills, and 
that he recollected that his son George Spencer then 
lay in the well referred to, on the day previous, 
without a winding-sheet, shroud, or coffin. He 
said he could not sit still when he saw the same 
spirit raging in this place ; he considered the pub- 
lication of the Uxjpositor as much murderous at 
heart as David was before the death of Uriah. Was 
for making a short work of it, was prepared to take 
his stand by the Mayor, and whatever he proposes, 
would stand by him to the last. The quicker it is 
stopped the better. 

*' Councillor Phelps had investigated the Con- 
stitution, charter, and laws ; the power to declare 
that office a nuisance is granted to us, in the Spring- 
field charter, and a resolution declaring it a nuisance 
is all that is required. 

«' John Birney sworn: Said Francis M. Higbee 
and Wm. Law declared they had commenced their 
operations and would carry them out, law or no law. 

<' Stephen Markham, sworn: Said that Francis 



264 ' THE PBOPHET OF PAL3IYBA. 

M. Higbee said the interest of this city is done the 
moment a hand is laid on their press. 

" Councillor Phelps continued, and referred to 
Wilson Law in destroying the character of a child, 
an orphan child, who had the charge of another 
child. 

'< Warren Smith sworn : Said F. M. Higbee came 
to him and proposed to have him go in as a partner 
in making bogus money. Higbee said he would 
not work for a livino- ; that witness mio-ht o-q in 
with him if he would advance fifty dollars, and 
showed him' (witness) a half a dollar he said was 
made in his dies. 

" Councillor Phelps continued and said he felt 
deeper this day than ever he felt before, and wanted 
to know, by Yes if there was any present who 
wanted to avenge the blood of that innocent female 
who had been seduced by the then Major-General of 
the Nauvoo Legion, Wilson Law ; when ' Yes ! ! ' 
resounded from every quarter of the house. He 
then referred to the tea plot at Boston, and asked 
if anybody's rights were taken away with that 
transaction, and are we oftering, or have we offered 
to take away the rights of any one, these two days ? 
(No! ! I resounded from every quarter.) He then 
referred also to Law's grinding the poor during the 
scarcity of grain, while the poor had nothing but 
themselves to grind ; and spoke at great length in 
support of active measures to put down iniquity and 
suppress the spirit of mobocracy. 

"Alderman Harris spoke from the chair, and 
expressed his feelings that the press ought to be 
demolished. 

' « The following resolution was then read and 
passed unanimously, with the exception of Coun- 
cillor Warrington : 

" Resolved, By the city council of the city of 
Nauvoo, that the printing office from whence issues 



GIVING THE BEASON WHY. 2b5 

the NauYoo Expositor is a public nuisance, and 
also all of said Nauvoo Expositors, \^'luch may be 
or exist in said establishment, and the Mayor is 
instructed to cause said printing establishment and 
papers to be removed without delay, in such man- 
ner as he shall direct. 
'< Passed June 10, 1844. 

" Geo. W. Harkis, 
' ' Presiden t pro tern . 
«' W. KiCHARDS, Recorder. 
*' Six o'clock, p. M., council adjourned. 
* ' This certifies that the foregoing is a true and 
correct synopsis of the proceedings of the city coun- 
cil of the city of Xauvoo, on the 8th and 10th daj^s 
of June, 1844, in relation to the [N^auvoo Expositor 
and proprietors, as taken from the minutes of said 
council. 

" In testimony whereof I have hereunto 
[L.S.] set my hand, and the corporation seal, 
at Nauvoo, this 17th day of June, 1844. 
" WiLLARD Richards, 
'' Recorder and Clerh of the City Council. 
*'The following order was immediately issued 
by the Mayor : 

''State of Illinois, ) 
City or Xauvoo. 5 

<' To the Marshal of said city, Greeting : 

* ' You are hereby commanded to destroy the 
printing press from whence issues the Xauvoo 
Expositor and pi the type of said printing estab- 
lishment in the street, and burn all|the Expositors 
and libellous handbills found in said establishment, 
and if resistance be offered to your execution of 
this order, by the owners or others, demolish the 
house, and if any one threatens you, or the Mayor, 
or the officers of the city, arrest those who threaten 



266 THE TBOPHET OF PALMYBA, 

you, and fail not to execute this order without delay, 
and make due return hereon. 
*' By order of the city council, 

' ' Joseph Smith, 

' ' Mayor. 
"Marshal's Eetuex — The within named press 
and tjqoe is destroyed and pied according to 
order, on this 10th day of June, 1844, at about 8 
o'clock, P. M. 

'*J. P. Geeen, C. M. 



*« HEADQUARTERS, 

Nauvoo Legion, > 
June 10, 1844. \ 
<' To Jonathan Dunham, acting Major General of 
the Naiivoo Legion : 
*« You are hereby commanded to hold the Nauvoo 
Legion in readiness, forthwith to execute the city 
ordinances, and especially to remove the printing 
establishment of the Nauvoo Expositor, and this 
you are required to do at sight, under the penalty 
of the laws ; provided the marshal shall require it, 
and need your services. 

** Joseph Smith, 
Lieut. -Gen. Nauvoo Legion, 



PROCLAMATION. 

Mayor's Office, > 
Nauvoo, June 16, 1844. 5 
"As there are a number of statements in circula- 
tion which have for their objeci the injury of the 
* Latter-Da}^ Saints,' all of which are false and 
prompted by blackhearted villains, I therefore deem 
it my duty to disabuse the public mind in regard to 
them, and to give a plain statement of facts which 



GIVING THE BEASON WL' Y 267 

have taken place in the city within a few da}'s past, 
and, which has brought upon us the displeasure of 
the unprincipled and the uninformed, and seems to 
afford an opportunity to our enemies, to unite and 
arouse themselves to mob ; and already they have 
commenced their hellish operations by driving a few 
defenceless Mormons from their houses and homes 
in the vicinity of Warsaw and Carthage. 

''A short time since a press was started in this 
city which had for its object the destruction of the 
institutions of the city, both civil and religious ; its 
proprietors are a set of unprincipled scoundrels who 
attempted in every possi])le way to defame the 
character of the most virtuous of our community, 
and change our peaceful and prosperous city into a 
place as evil and polluted as their own black hearts . 
To rid the city of a paper so filthy and pestilential 
as this, becomes the duty of every good citizen, who 
loves good order and morality ; a complaint was 
made before the city council, and after a full and 
impartial investigation it was voted — without one 
dissenting voice, a public NUISANCE, and to be 
immediately destroyed ; the peace and happiness of 
the place demanded it, the virtue of our wives and 
daughters demanded, and our consciences demanded 
it at our hands as conservators of the public peace. 
That we acted right in this matter we have the as- 
surance of one of the ablest expounders of the laws 
of England, viz. : Blackstone— the Constitution of 
the State of Illinois, and our own chartered rights. If 
then our charter gives us the power to decide what 
shall be a nuisance and cause it to be removed, 
where is the offence ? What law is violated ? If 
then no law has been violated, why this ridiculous 
excitement and bandying with lawless ruffians to 
destroy the happiness of a people whose religious 
motto is ' peace and good will toward all men ? ' 

'^ Our city is infested with a set of blacklegs, 



268 TJBTE FBOPHET OF FALMYBA. 

counterfeiters and debauchees, and that the pro- 
prietors of this press were of that class, the min- 
utes of the municipal court fully testify, and in 
ridding our young and flourishing city of such 
characters, we are abused by not onh^ villainous 
demagogues, but by some who from their station 
and influence in society, ought rather to raise than 
depress the standard of human excellence. We 
have no disturbance or excitement among us, save 
what is made by the thousand and one idle rumors 
afloat in the country. Every one is protected in 
his person and property, and but few cities of a 
population of twenty thousand people, in the United 
States, hath less of dissipation or vice of any kind, 
than the city of Nauvoo. 

*< Of the correctness of our conduct in this afiair, 
we appeal to every high court in the State, and to 
its ordeal we are willing to appear at any time that 
His Excellency, Governor Ford shall please to call 
us before it. I therefore, in behalf of the municipal 
court of Nauvoo, warn the lawless, not to be pre- 
cipitate in any interference in our affairs, for as sure 
as there is a God in Israel, we shall ride triumphant 
over all oppression. 

'* Joseph Si^nTH, 

"Mayor:' 



THE ATONEMENT, 269 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE ATONEMENT. 

Great Excitement — Weits Procured — Public Meetings — 
Citizens Arming — The Governor Appealed to — Ar- 
rives AT Carthage — Takes Command — Mayor and 
Council of Naua^oo Summoned — Arrested But Eail 
TO Appear — Finally Come in and Surrender — Ee- 

LEASED ON BaIL — EE-ARRESTED FOR TREASON — GOV- 
ERNOR'S Definition of Treason — Marches with a 
Small Force to the City — The Smiths Killed in 
Jail — Great Consternation. 

The destruction of the press and types of the Ex- 
positor put the city of Nauvoo and the whole county 
of Hancock at fever heat. The seceders all left the 
city, and the owners of the destroyed property re- 
paired to the county seat, and procured writs for the 
Mayor and others concerned, on a charge of riot. 
These writs were placed in the hands of an officer, 
who, with a small J90sse, repaired to the city and 
arrested a number of the persons charged. The 
inevitable habeas corpus was again applied from the 
municipal court, and they were ** honorably dis- 
charged." 

Meanwhile, the whole county was in commotion. 
Public meetings were held at various points, and 
the people called upon to arm for a crisis that 
seemed to be approaching. The following resolu- 



270 THE PHOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

tions Avere passed at two principal points in the 
county (Carthage and Warsaw), by acclamation, 
and preparations actively made to carry them out : 

^'Resolved, That the time, in our opinion, has 
arrived when the adherents of Smith as a body, 
should be driven from the surrounding settlements 
into Xauvoo : that the prophet and his miscreant 
adherents should then be demanded at their hands, 
and if not surrendered, a war of extermination 
should be waged to their entire destruction, if 
necessary for our protection. 

^^ Resolved, That every citizen arm himself to be 
prepared to sustain the resolutions herein con- 
tained." 

These looked to extreme measures. It is proper 
to here remark, that there were at this time, and 
ever afterwards while the Mormons remained, /b««r 
classes of citizens in the county : First, the Mor- 
mons themselves ; 2. A class called Jack-Mormons, 
who, not members of the sect, adhered to and sus- 
tained them for political gain ; 3 . Old citizens who 
were Anti-Mormon at heart, but who refused to 
countenance any but lawful measures for the redress 
of grievances; and, 4. Anti-Mormons, who, now 
that the crisis was at hand, advocated '* war and 
extermination." Some of the third class were de- 
nounced as "Jacks," by the extremists; though 
the great body of them acted usuall}^ with the 
foui-th class in all things but their extreme meas- 
ures. 

All over the county, men were arminof, oro^an- 



THE ATONEMENT. 271 

iziiig, and drilling ; having been notified by the of- 
ficer holding the writs that a posse comitatus would 
be called for to aid in making the arrests. A great 
want existed in the absence of arms and ammuni- 
tion. Agents to procure these were sent to Quincy 
and St. Louis and other places. At St. Louis a 
cannon and a lot of ammunition were obtained and 
brought up to Warsaw. The authorities of the town 
voted a thousand dollars for supplies. A deputa- 
tion having been sent to Governor Ford at Spring- 
field, that functionary decided to visit the county in 
person and judge for himself. 

In much that follows regarding the death of the 
Smiths, and the events leading thereto and subse- 
quent, we use Ford's Message as Governor, and 
his History of Illinois, correcting his many mis- 
takes and misstatements of facts. 

Upon the Governor's arrival in the county, he 
found an armed force collected and collecting, while 
another was arming and assembling at Warsaw. 
The General of the militia, Deming, had also called 
out the militia of the adjoining counties of Mc- 
Donough and Schuyler. The Governor promptly 
placed all the troops under orders and under com- 
mand of their proper officers. He next summoned 
the Mayor and the city council of Nauvoo to pre- 
sent their side of the question, which they did, 
through a committee sent to the Governor at the 



272 THE PFiOFHET OF PALMYRA. 

county seat, bis headquarters. After some consid- 
erable delay and indecision as to wbat course to 
pursue next, a force often men was sent to tbe city 
witb tbe officer to make tbe arrest and guard tbe 
prisoners to headquarters . Tbe officer made tbe 
arrests without trouble, tbe Mayor and councillors 
signifying their willingness to accompany him to 
Carthage at eight o'clock tbe next morning. Eight 
o'clock came, but the accused failed to appear, and 
the posse marched back to Carthage without them. 
This incensed the Governor. He blamed the officer 
very unjustly for returning without them. That 
individual knew better than his excellency tbe ways 
of tbe accused. He knew that if they had intended 
submission, they would have presented themselves 
at the time fixed ; and if they did not, that an 
officer and ten men would find it an up-hill business 
to hunt out and bring away an equal number from 
a city full of armed enemies. 

Tbe Governor next demanded that tbe State 
arms in the bands of the Legion, with which they 
had been supplied by Quartermaster-General Ben- 
nett, should be delivered to him. To this demand 
they complied by sending in three pieces of cannon 
and two hundred stands of small arms. 

The surrender of the chiefs being insisted on by 
Governor Ford, on the 24tb, the prophet, bis 
brother Hyrum, and some members of tbe city 



THE ATONEMENT. 273 

council came in and surrendered to the officers 

holding the writs, and voluntarily entered into 

recognizance to appear at court. In the mean time 

a new warrant, charging Joseph and Hyrum Smith 

with treason, had been issued, and they were again 

arrested by the constable. This charge of treason was 

based on the alleged fact of levying war against the 

State, and of declaring martial law in the city, and 

ordering out the Legion to resist the execution of 

the laws. Here Historian Ford, in order to find 

fault with the Hancock people, gives us a new and 

novel definition of treason. He says : 

*' Their actual guiltiness of the charge would de- 
pend upon circumstances. If their opponents had 
been seeking to put the law in force in good faith, 
and nothing more, then an array of military force 
in open resistance to the posse comitatus and the 
militia of the State, most probably would have 
amounted to treason. But if those opponents 
mainly intended to use the process of the law, the 
militia of the State, and the posse comitatus, as 
cat's-paws to compass the possession of their per- 
sons for the purpose of murdering them afterwards, 
as the sequel demonstrated the fact to be, it might 
well be doubted ivhether they were guilty of trea- 
son."— Z^^s^. III. p. 337. 

So treason, instead of depending upon the 

acts and intentions of the persons charged, is 

to be measured by the acts and intentions of 

others. It is a principle of law that intention 

must be taken into account in defining crime, 



274 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

but it comes strangely from the executive of a State, 
that to constitute crime, the intentions of persons 
who are endeavoring to bring a criminal to justice, 
rather than his own, are to be considered. But by 
what process does Governor Ford so summarily 
arrive at the intentions of those he styles the 
* * opponents " of the Mormon leaders ? 

Neither party being prepared for the examination 
on the charge of treason, the accused were com- 
mitted to the county jail for safe-keeping. 

The Governor now decided to march his whole 
force into Nauvoo, but does not seem to have had any 
clearly defined object for so doing. The morning of 
the 27th was fixed on for the march ; and on the 
26th the order was given, and a message sent to 
the troops at Warsaw, to meet him and the main 
body at Golden's Point, about seven miles from the 
city. But on the morning of the day fixed for the 
march, he wavered in his intention of taking a force 
into the city, and called a council of his officers for 
consultation. A small majority of them voted in 
favor of going; but the Governor took the responsi- 
bility, countermanded his orders, and disbanded the 
troops — except three companies, two to remain at 
Carthage, and one to accompany himself and a few 
friends into Nauvoo. An order to this effect was 
accordingly forwarded to the companies at Warsaw, 
who were already on the march, and they were met 



THE ATONEMENT. «75 

on the prairie by the disbanding officer before 

reaching Golden's Point. After being disbanded, 

portions of these returned to their homes, while 

others changed their course eastward toward the 

county seat. The two companies left to guard the 

jail were put under command of Captain Robert F. 

Smith, of the Carthage Greys, an independent and 

well-disciplined company — ^his own being one of 

them.* 

' ' Having ordered the guard and left Gen . Dem- 
ing in command in Carthage, and discharged the 
residue of the militia, I immediately departed 
for Nauvoo, eighteen miles distant, accompanied 
by Col. Buckmaster, Quarter-Master-General, and 
Capt. Dunn's (Augusta) company of dragoons." 
--Ford's Hist. p. 345. 

It was supposed that one, and perhaps a chief 
purpose of this expedition, was '*to search for 
counterfeit money." Be this as it may, the Gov- 
ernor changed his mind again. He began to fear 
an attack on the jail, it was said ; so he decided to 
omit the search, but to hurry on to the city, make 
the Mormons a speech, and return to Carthage the 
same night. The baggage wagons were halted on 
the prairie, with orders to return at night. He and 
his escort reached the city about four o'clock. The 

*Sonie writers have criticised Governor Ford severely for 
leaving this officer and his company as guard to the prisoners, 
charging that they were conspicuously enemies to the prophet. 
This was not the fact. That company had no reason to be, and 
were no more hostile to Smith and the Mormons than any 
others of the old citizens of the county. 



276 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

people were called together, and the Governor 
made them an address, in which, he says, he rated 
them pretty severely for their bad conduct, and 
ended by putting the vote whether they would in 
future obey the laws. They unanimously voted 
Yes ! — when his excellency and his retinue started 
back to Carthage a little before sundown. A few 
miles out from the city they were met by a messen- 
ger with the information that the prophet and his 
brother had been assailed in jail by a mob, and 
KILLED ! The messeno^er who brouo^ht the news 
was ordered to return with them to Carthage, 
which he did ; but by some unknown means the 
news reached the city during the night. 

General consternation now pervaded the whole 
county. The troops had been disbanded, and 
most of them had, during the day, left for their 
homes. Captain Dunn's company, with the Gov- 
ernor and the two companies left at Carthage, were 
all that were now under arms in the county to con- 
front the Legion should it make a raid to avenge 
its chief. The Governor, in a state of high excite- 
ment, hurried on with his command to Carthage, 
where he arrived long after night, only to find the 
place partiall}^ deserted ; and all who had not gone, 
with a few exceptions, were going as fast as means 
of conveyance could be found for their famiJies. 
All were fleeing in an easterly or south-easterly 



THE ATONEMENT. 211 

direction, opposite to that of the Mormon city. 
The bodies of the murdered men, together with 
that of John Taylor, their wounded companion, 
and ^Villard Richards, who was unhurt, had been 
removed by kindly hands to the hotel, where they 
remained during the night. General Deming had 
left for his home in the country during the after- 
noon, before the deed had been committed. The 
Governor only halted long enough to denounce the 
people for their folly, and rode on to Augusta that 
night, and thence the next day to Quincy. 

At Warsaw, the people were not long in hearing 
of the crime, and apprehending Mormon vengeance, 
many of them also hurried from their homes, 
mostly taking refuge in Alexandria, across the 
river in Missouri. Picket guards were placed about 
both Carthage and Warsaw, to watch the approach 
of the enemy. 

At Nauvoo the greatest consternation prevailed. 
The messenofer brino^ino^ them the news had been 
turned back by the Governor ; yet late at night the 
terrible fact had somehow^ reached the city. The 
people were appalled at the disaster which had be- 
fallen them. Not knowing that the troops had been 
disbanded, and fearing an attack from the mob, they 
also fled from their homes — many of them cross- 
ing over into Iowa. 

From a late account of these exciting events, 



278 TRE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

which we find in a New York paper, written 
by a highly intelligent gentleman who was a resi- 
dent of Carthage at that time and well known in 
the county, we make the following extract. He 
claims to have been, and was, an accidental eye 
witness to the attack on the jail. He says : 

''The Governor indiscreeth^ had Joseph and his 
brother taken round and formally presented to the 
soldiery. The latter were incensed that so mnch 
respect should be shown a criminal, and suspected 
that he would be let off upon his submission, with- 
out any adequate punishment ; whereas, they had 
answered the Governor's call in the expectation of 
sterner dealing. Their suspicions were strength- 
ened by the fact that the prisoners, instead of 
being confined in the criminal's apartment of the 
jail, were allowed to occupy a parlor chamber with 
their friends, under a guard of six soldiers, de- 
tailed from the Carthage Greys, stationed at the 
front door at the foot of the stairway. 

" On the morning of June 27th, Governor Ford 
discharged all his forces except a cavalry company 
and the Carthage Greys, and leaving the jail, with 
Smith and his friends in the parlor chamber, in 
charge of reliefs of guards from the Greys, he went 
with the cavahy to Xauvoo to inspect the city, to 
give good advice to the Mormons, and require a 
surrender of the State arms in their possession. 

" The militia from other counties started home 
with alacrity. But two companies from the south- 
west portion of Hancock seemed to linger and de- 
part reluctantly. Late in the afternoon, a large 
body of men was seen coming rapidly from the 
west on the road over which the two companies had 
departed, who, about a mile from town, turned off 
north to a line of woods coming down back of the 



THE ATONEMENT, 279 

jail. Soon they emerged from the woods and came 
up to the jail upon the doul)le-quick. As the}^ came 
round to the front, the guard, standing on the steps, 
fired down from an elevation of three or four feet 
into the midst of them, when not twenty feet dis- 
tant. The writer saw six flashes streaming toward 
the crowd, but nobody fell. The assailants, having 
their faces blackened with powder, rushed forward 
and seized the guards and threw them upon the 
ground. Most of them were easy to handle ; but 
one, who did not know that ball cartridges had been 
replaced with blanks in their guns, at the last relief — 
who was not in the secret at all, but thought he had 
fired to kill, and was all in earnest throughout — a 
tall, athletic, stammering boy of nineteen years — 
made it rough for those who held him. He floun- 
dered and pounded, vociferating, ' Y-y-y-y-you ! ' 
' Lie still, you fool, we're not going to hurt you ! ' 
* D-d-d — ' continued Frank, kickino' and strus*- 
gling to break loose, and trying frantically to break 
the third commandment, though his impediment of 
speech saved him from the actual sin. 

"As many as could, now rushed up the stairway, 
at the head of which was the room where the pris- 
oner and his friends were. They tried in vain to 
burst in the door, for the Smiths and two bishops 
— all heavy men — bore against it from the other 
side. Then, turning the muzzles of their guns 
against the thin-paiieled door, several of them fired, 
killing Hyrum, and wounding Joseph and Bishop 
Taylor, — when all inside retreated, except Richards, 
who, shielded in a corner behind the now opened 
door, escaped unhurt. A window opposite the 
door was open, and Joseph sprang upon its broad 
sill as if to get out ; but balls struck him from be- 
hind, and with a loud cry he pitched headlong to 
the ground. Balls from the outside met his falling- 
body. It seemed to me — ^twenty rods distant, but 



280 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

in full sight — ^tliat he for a moment partly raised 
himself to a sitting posture against a well-curb be- 
side which he fell ; but it is not true, as was some- 
times reported, that his assailants leaned his body 
up against the curb, and made it a target. . . . 
"A panic spread, and within two hours the town 
was deserted, with the exception of the Hamilton 
Hotel, where the killed and wounded were taken, 
and a few gathered for service, and a harbor for 
safety in the expected stonn. Men, women, and 
children fled in wagons, on horseback and afoot, 
while Delenda est Carthago seemed sounding vb 
their ears." — J. H. S., in Ithaca {^N, !F.) Journal^ 
April, 1886. 



HOW THE DEED WAS BONE. 281 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

HOW THE DEED WAS DONE. 

Effect of the Panic — Governor Ford's Plan Revealed — 
Attack on the Jail by the Mob — The Prophet and His 
Brother Killed — How it was Done — Purposes of the 
Mob — WiLLARD RiCHARDs's Stateivient. 

On the morning of the 28th of June, 1844, the 
sun rose on as strange a scene as the broad Han- 
cock prairies had ever witnessed. At the three 
corners of a triangle, eighteen miles asunder, two of 
them resting on the Mississippi, stood a smitten 
and mourning city and two almost deserted villages, 
with here and there a group of questioning men, 
anxious to obtain the news of the night. These 
were Nauvoo and the villages of Carthage and War- 
saw. Toward the two villages, the more coura- 
geous ones who had fled the evening before, were 
now returning, tired and worn, to find their several 
homes unsacked and untouched, and their streets 
untrodden by a vengeful and infuriated foe.. The 
wet and heavy roads leading to the county seat 
from the east and south were being again traversed 
by the refugees of the night, now returning where 
they had so lately fled in terror. The blue waves 



282 THi: FBOPHET OF PALMYFA. 

of the Mississippi rolled peacefully past the stricken 
city, as when, a few days before, its shores re- 
sounded to the Legion's martial tread. All the 
people knew that a great crime had been committed, 
by whom they dared not guess ; and they knew 
not how, upon whom, where, or in what manner, 
retribution might fall ! 

Governor Ford very justly concluded that for the 
time being his authority was at an end. He had 
by his vacillating course failed to satisfy either 
party, and both regarded him with distrust. He 
accordingly hurried from the county, and brought 
up at Quincy, forty miles from the scene of the 
troubles. It was strongly suspected by some of 
the citizens that he had contemplated an escape of 
the prisoners, after the manner of Missouri ; and 
he was very angry with them for harboring such a 
suspicion. But in his book, written some years 
afterwards, he acknowledged that he had such a 
plan, and complained that it was " thwarted by the 
insane folly of the Anti-Mormons." [P. 339.] 
This fact was never fully known until made pub- 
lic by himself. The consummation of his plan 
could hardly have been effected without bloodshed. 
And here we have a repetition of the humiliating 
fact, that the executive head of a great State, 
whose duty it is to execute the laws, connived at 
the escape of great criminals, in order to avoid the 



HOW THE DEED WAS DONE, 283 

responsilHlities devolving upon him, and as the easi- 
est way of getting rid of troublesome men. 

The charge has been made, and generally believed, 
that the Warsaw troops, disbanded in the morning 
on the prairie, furnished most of the mobbers. 
That is probable from the fact that when the attack 
was made in the afternoon, the jail was approached 
from that direction ; though it is by no means con- 
clusive — as there was ample time for others to have 
assembled in the woods to the northwest of the 
town , where the plot was probably concocted. Those 
troops were partly composed of citizens of Warsaw 
and partly from the surrounding country, with a 
few from Missouri and other places. Whoever 
they may have been, they came from the direction 
of those woods, and were observed to approach in 
single file and quickstep until they came to the 
fence surrounding the jail. From the best informa- 
tion now to be obtained, they numbered not more 
than forty or fifty — certahily less than a hundred. 
On reaching the fence, they scaled it at once and 
seized the guards. These were soon overpowered, 
and a rush made for the door of the jail, the prison- 
ers being confined in the upper story. The door 
was assailed and burst open. The prisoners in- 
side were behind it, well armed, and endeavoring 
to prevent ingress. As the door would yield to the 
outside pressure, the prophet fired several shots 



284 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYliA. 

around the edge with his revolver. The mob fired 
through the door, and in this way killed Hyrum 
Smith and wounded John Taylor severely. Find- 
ing that they were being overpowered, Kichards, 
who was still unhurt, ran with Taylor, wounded, 
into the inner dungeon ; while Joseph Smith has- 
tened to a window on the east side, raised the 
sash, and leaned partly out, probably with a view 
of jumping, when he was shot by several balls from 
the outside, and fell to the ground near the well- 
curb. It has been stated — and is always so told by 
the Mormons — that after his fall he was set up 
against the curb and several times shot. This, 
from reliable information, we believe was not the 
case ; that no shot was fired after he fell, and that 
he died from the two or three shots received in the 
window. The story originated with one Daniels, 
who afterwards issued a little pamphlet giving a 
most miraculous account of the transaction. 

Governor Ford and others have stated that the 
plan had been devised and arranged between the 
mob and the Carthage Greys, and that the guard of 
ten men of that company around the jail made but a 
feint at resistance. It is certainly true that a por- 
tion of the Greys knew that something was to be 
done, but others>, and the great body of them, knew 
nothing about it. These were wholly ignorant, 
until the firing was heard at the camp on the pub- 



HOW THE DEED M'AS DONE. 285 

lie square ; and then, in common with the rest of 
the citizens, they apprehended a Mormon rescue. 

The Governor also charges that the mob had se- 
lected that time — while he was in Nauvoo and in 
the power of the Mormons — to do the bloody deed, 
in order to compass his own destruction at Mormon 
hands in revenge. His own too excitable and sus- 
picious nature originated the thought. There was 
not the slightest foundation for the charge. So far 
from it being the fact that they designed and con- 
templated the murder of the Governor, we believe 
they had not even planned for the killing of the 
prisoners I This avowal will no doubt be read with 
surprise by many of our readers ; for we well know 
that the Governor's unfounded statements, coupled 
with the Mormon accounts of the cruelty and blood- 
thirstiness of the mob, have long since and always 
been received as valid history. It is hard at all 
times to tell the plans and purposes of a mob ; in- 
deed, it is safe to say that in many cases its work 
is accomplished without any preconceived or defined 
plan. This mob we believe to have been one of these. 
Their work is not to be excused or palliated, 
nevertheless. They were therefor a wrongful and 
unlawful purpose, though that purpose may not 
have been clearly defined. 

A review of the circumstances will give the basis 
for the opinion above expressed. There had been in 



286_ TBE PBOPHET OF PALMYHA. 

the near past, as we have seen, several demands made 
by the authorities of Missouri for the delivery of 
the prophet, all of which had in some way been 
thwarted. Added to this, only a few days before, 
two or three public meetings had been held, at 
which resolutions had invited the Governor of that 
State to make another demand, and pledged aid 
to carry it into eifect. So far the purpose of the 
mob ma}' have been definite — and until the jail 
was reached. There, instead of finding two un- 
armed and defenceless men, as they had reason to 
believe — for Taylor and Eichards were there of 
their OAvn accord — they were met at the door by 
four men armed with revolvers, able to make, and 
who did make, a vigorous resistance — and the strug- 
gle ended in death. 

It has been stated that two or three of the mob- 
bers were wounded and carried away. We know 
not whether this is so. As soon as it became 
known that the Smiths were killed, the mobbers 
rapidly retreated from the scene, in the direction 
they had come. As soon as the noise of the at- 
tack was heard in the town, the Carthage Greys, 
from their camp on the square, with other citi- 
zens, hurried to the jail, only in time to witness 
the retreat of the mobbers. They found the 
prophet lying dead near or against the well-curb ; 
his brother Hyrum was dead upstairs ; and Willard 



HOW THE DEED WAS DONE. 287 

Richards unhurt and John Taylor badly wounded, 
Avere found in an inner room where they had taken 
refuge. They were all removed by kindly hands 
to Hamilton's Hotel, and properly cared for. 

The " Book of Daniels," heretofore referred to, 
was such a curiosity in itself and contained so 
many wonderful statements, that it Avas worthy of 
preservation as a specimen of the literature and 
truthfulness of the times. It was put forth at Nau- 
voo by one AFm. M. Daniels, an unknown youth, 
who said that he was among the Warsaw troops 
and at the jail when the deed was done, and that 
he was subsequently warned in a dream that he 
must go and join the Saints and publish his knowl- 
edge of the affair to the world, in order to further 
the ends of justice. He accordingly went to Nauvoo, 
and with the assistance of a printer there his 
pamphlet was issued. With great particularity he 
described hoAV the plan was arranged between the 
Warsaw people and the Carthage Greys — that he 
was present when the killing was done, and saw it 
done, etc., etc. He tells that after Joseph fell to 
the ground : 

<'A fellow six feet tall and upwards, holding a 
pewter flute in his hand, bare-headed and bare- 
footed, having on nothing but his pants and shirt, 
with his sleeves rolled above his elbows and his 
pants rolled above his knees, picked him up in- 
stantly and set him upon the south side of the well- 



288 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

nii'b, situated three or four feet from the building. 
As the ruffian sprang over the fence to General 
Smith, and while he was in the act of picking him 
up, he said : ' This is old Joe ; I know him. I 
know you, old Joe, d — n you ; you are the man 
that had my dadd}^ shot.' The reason of his talk- 
ing in this way, I suppose, was that he wished to 
pass himself to General Smith as being the son of 
Governor Boggs. . . . Four of the ruffians 
who stood in front of Colonel Williams, about eight 
feet east of the curb, were ordered by \7illiams to 
lire. They raised their muskets and the fire was 
simultaneous. . . . After the breath had left 
his body, the person I have previously described, 
who had passed as the son of Governor Boggs, 
caught up a bowie knife for the purpose of cutting 
off his head. The knife was raised ready to strike, 
when a light, so strange, so bright and sudden, 
flashed between him and the corpse, that he and the 
four men Avho had shot him, were struck with terror 
and consternation. Their muskets fell from their 
hands, and they stood like marble, not having 
power to move a single limb. They were about to 
be left, when Colonel AYilliams, who had also be- 
held and been terrified at the light, shouted out to 
the men : ' For God's sake, come and carry away 
these men ! ' They were obliged to carry them 
away, as they were as helpless as though they were 
dead. This light was something like the flash of 
lightning, and was so much brighter than the day, 
that after it had passed it left a slight darkness like 
a twilight ! " 

Daniels further states, that when it became known 
that he was going to be a witness against the ac- 
cused, and the nature of his testimony became 
public, the sum of |2,500 was offered him to leave 



HOW THE DEED WAS DOXE. 289 

the State ; this failing, efforts were made to put him 
out of the way by violence ! 

And he was subsequently subpoenaed as a wit- 
ness ; but the nature of his testimony threw it out 
of court. 

As part of the history of the transaction, we copy 
here Willard Eichards's report, as communicated to 
the Xauvoo Neighbor a few days afterwards. Mr. 
Eichards, it seems, saw nothing of the 'blinding 
light which so overpowered the mobbers, though 
standing at the window at the time : 

TAVO MINUTES IN JAIL. 

'* Possibly the following events occupied near three 
minutes, but I think only about two, and have 
penned them for the gratification of many friends : 

**Cakthage, June 27, 1844. 

*' A sbower of musket balls were thrown up the 
stairway against the door of the prison in the 
second story, followed by many rapid footsteps ; 
while Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Mr. 
Taylor and myself, who were in the front cham- 
ber, closed the door of our room, against the 
entry at the head of the stairs, and placed ourselves 
against it, there being no lock on the door, and no 
ketch that was useable. The door is a common 
panel, and as soon as we heard the feet at the 
stairs' head, a ball was sent through the door, which 
passed between us, and showed that our enemies 
were desperadoes, and we must change our positi(ai. 
General Joseph Smith, Mr. Taylor, and myself, 
sprang back to the front part of the room, and 
General Hyrum Smith retreated two-thirds across 



290 TRE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

the chamber directly in front of and facing the door. 
A ball was sent through the door which hit Hyrum^ 
on the side of his nose, when he fell backwards 
extended at length without moving his feet. From 
the holes in his vest (the day was warm, and no 
one had their coats on but myself), pantaloons, 
drawers and shirt, it appears evident that a ball 
must have been thrown from without through the 
window, which entered his back on the right side 
and passing through, lodged against his watch, 
which was in his right vest pocket, completely pul- 
verizing the cr3^stal and face, tearing off the hands 
and mashing the whole body of the watch, at the 
same instant the ball from the door entered his 
nose. As he struck the floor he exclaimed em- 
phaticall}^ : '/'m a dead manr Joseph looked 
towards him and responded ; ' Oh dear ! Brother 
Hyrum I ' and opening the door two or three inches 
with his left hand, discharged one barrel of a six- 
shooter (pistol) at random in the entry, from 
whence a ball grazed Hy rum's breast, and entering 
his throat, passed into his head — while other muskets 
were aimed at him, and some balls hit him. Joseph 
continued snapping his revolver round the casing 
of the door into the space as before (three barrels 
of which missed fire), while Mr. Taylor, with a 
walking stick, stood by his side and knocked down 
the baj^onets and muskets which were constantly 
discharging through the doorway, while I stood by, 
ready to lend my assistance, with another stick ; but 
could not come within striking distance, without 
going directly before the muzzle of the guns. When 
the revolver failed, we had no more fire-arms, and 
expecting an immediate rush of the mob, and the 
doorway full of muskets — half-way in the room, 
and no hope but instant death from within — Mr. 
Taylor rushed into the window, which is some fif- 
teen or twenty feet from the ground. When his 



HOW THE DEED WAS DOJSE. 291 

body was nearly on a balance, a ball from the door 
within entered his leg, and a ball from without 
struck his watch, a patent lever, in his vest pocket, 
near the left breast, and smashed it in ' pie,' leaving 
the hands standing 5 o'clock, 16 minutes and 26 
seconds, — the force of which ball threw him back 
on the floor, and he rolled under the bed by his 
side, where he lay motionless, the mob from the 
door continuing to fire upon him, cutting away a 
piece of flesh from his left hip as large as a man's 
hand, and were hindered only by my knocking down 
their muzzles with a stick ; while they continued to 
reach their guns into the room, probably left- 
handed, and aimed their discharge so far around as 
almost to reach us in the corner of the room to 
where we retreated and dodged, and then I re-com- 
menced my attack with the stick again. Joseph 
attempted as the last resort, to leap the same win- 
dow from whence Mr. Taylor fell, when two balls 
pierced him from the door, and one^ entered his 
right breast from without, and he fell outward, ex- 
claiming, ' Lord, my GodP As his feet went 
out of the window my head went in, the balls 
whistling all around. He fell on his left side, a 
dead man. At this instant the cry was raised, ^He's 
leaped the ivindoiv ! ' and the mob on the stairs and 
in the entry ran out. I withdrew from the window, 
thinking it of no use to leap out on a hundred bayo- 
nets, then around General Smith's body. Not sat- 
isfied with this, I again reached my head out of the 
window and watched some seconds, to see if there 
were any signs of life, regardless of my own, de- 
termined to see the end of him I loved ; being fully 
satisfied that he was dead, with a hundred men near 
the body and more coming around the corner of 
the jail, and expecting a return to our room, I 
rushed towards the prison door, at the head of the 
stairs, and through the entry from whence the firing 



292 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

litid proceeded, to learn if the doors into the prison 
were open. TThen near the entry, Mr. Taylor 
called out, ' Tahe me I' I pressed my way till I 
found all doors unbarred, returning instantly 
caught Mr. Taylor under my arm, and rushed by 
the stairs into the dungeon, or inner prison, stretched 
him on the floor and coyered him with a bed, in such 
a manner as not likely to be perceiyed, expecting 
an immediate return of the mob. I said to Mr. 
Taylor, This is a hard case, to lay you on the floor ; 
but if your wounds are not fatal, I want you to live 
to tell the stor}^ I expected to be shot the next 
moment, and stood before the door awaiting the 
onset. 

' * Will AED Eichaeds . ' ' 
— Nauvoo Neighbor, July 24, 1844, 



AUBE^m, IMDWTMENWy TMIALS. 293 



CHAPTER XXX. 

ARRESTS, INDICT^VIENTS, AND TRIALS. 

Military Encampment Called— The Wolf Hunt— Gov- 
ernor Ford Interferes — Brings Another Force- 
March TO Nauvoo — To Warsaav — Joseph H. Jackson 
Indictments — Trials of the Prisoners — Found Not 
Guilty. 

During the summer and autumn of 1844, after 
the death of the prophet, great dissatisfaction and 
trouble existed at Nam^oo, growing mainly out of 
the struo^o^le for the succession. Riodon and his 
adherents were at work against Brigham Young, 
who was cunningly allying the rest of the Twelve 
to his interests. Many of the rank and file were 
becoming lukewarm, and were quietly leaving the 
city ; at the same time, others were retiring from 
the Mormon settlements in other parts of the 
county, some locating in the city, and others scat- 
tering to other counties. 

To add to the excitement, a grand military en- 
campment was called, to be held at Warsaw in 
October. It was called by the officers of several 
independent companies, and had no other purpose 
in view, it is believed, than was expressed in the 
call ; yet it gave great uneasiness to the ]*.Iormons 



291 THE FEOPHET OF FALMYEA. 

and their friends. They saw in it something more 
than a peaceful military display ; and it soon became 
magnified into a great *' Wolf Hunt," in which the 
wolves to be hunted were imagined to be the Mor- 
mons themselves. The excitement spread, and the 
Governor was appealed to to interpose. His ex- 
cellency allowed himself to be misled, and without 
making proper inquiry, he decided to again send 
an expedition into the county. A proclamation 
was accordingly issued, calling for twenty-five 
hundred volunteers, and after several days a force 
of four hundred and fifty marched into the county 
under the command of Colonel John J. Hardin, 
accompanied by the Governor. Two independent 
companies were sent directly from Quincy to Nauvoo 
by the river. 

Some days previous to the call for troops, Mur- 
ray McConnell, Esq., a noted attorney of Jackson- 
ville, had been sent into the county, at the instance 
of the Governor ; and the result was that several 
persons were selected as examples for arrest, 
charged with the murder of the Smiths. These 
persons were. Colonel Levi ^Yilliams of Green 
Plains, Thomas C. Sharp, Esq., of the Warsaw 
Signal, Joseph H. Jackson, and William and Wilson 
Law, and Dr. Kobert D. and Charles A. Fos- 
ter (the last four seceding Mormons and part 
owners of the Uxpositor) , who were now residing 



"ABBESTS, INDICTMENTS, TRIALS. 295 

at Kock Island. Writs for them were issued by 
Aaron Johnson, a Justice of the Peace at Nauvoo. 
These writs, except as to Colonel Williams, were 
duly served ; but all refused to go to Nauvoo for a 
hearing, and no attempt was made to take them 
there. 

After a stay of a day or two at Carthage, the 
Governor's army was marched to Xauvoo, on the 
27th, and encamped below the city. On the 28th 
the Nauvoo Legion was paraded for review. From 
Nauvoo the troops were ordered to Warsaw, where 
they arrived on the 29th, and encamped in the 
suburbs. As they approached, the men apprehend- 
ing arrest fled across the river to Alexandria. 
Learning this fact. Governor Ford chartered a keel- 
boat at Montebello, and had it secretly dropped 
down to the vicinity of Warsaw, intending to use 
it that night in kidnapping the accused from Mis- 
souri and bringing them to the Illinois side. But 
during the afternoon. Colonels Hardin and Baker 
visited the Missouri side and had a conference with 
the accused. An agreement was entered into by 
which Williams and Sharp (Jackson being sick) 
agreed to give themselves up, on condition that 
they should be taken before Judge Thomas of the 
circuit for examination. Thus the Governor's plan 
for kidnapping them fell through. The writ was 
accordingly read to them, and afterwards, with 



296 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

Colonel Baker as counsel, and escorted by a detach- 
ment of Quinc}^ troops, they were shipped to that 
city in quest of the Judge. Here, after waiting 
two days, and no prosecuting witnesses appearing, 
they entered into voluntary recognizances to appear 
at next term of court, and were set at liberty ; thus 
leaving the whole matter just as it was previous to 
the Governor's expedition. All this occurred just 
previous to the October term of court, at which 
the indictments were found. 

Mention has been made of Joseph H. Jackson. 
Mr. J. was an adventurer of fine appearance and 
gentlemanly manners, who appeared in the county 
during the troubles ; went to Nauvoo and became 
quite intimate with Smith and the leaders ; afterwards 
turned against them— went to Warsaw and issued 
a pamphlet claiming to be an expose of Mormonism 
and the evil purposes and practices of the prophet. 
This book made many charges against Smith and his 
adherents — charges of murder and conspiracy, of 
counterfeiting, debauchery, " spiritual -wiferj^,"* 
etc. ; and claimed that he went among them solely 
for the purpose of exposing them. If half of Jack- 
son's statements were true, the prophet and some 
of his abettors should have been hung ; if not true, 

* This term, " Spiritual-wifery," had its origin, we believe, 
about 184:2-3, while the prophet was alive, and was used to 
designate the system which he was supposed to be introducing 
into the Mormon theology. 



AlUiL::,T;S, INDICTMENTS, TIUALS. 297 

Jackson himself should have been hung — in either 
case without benefit of clergy. His expose was of 
much the same character as that of General Ben- 
nett ; and, as in the case of the latter, much of 
his statement was corroborated by circumstances, 
and much lacked confirmation. He was an en- 
tire stranger to the county and its people ; no 
one knew w^hence he came or what became of him 
afterwards, when the excitements were all over. 
Hence, it is just to say, that the equivocal position 
in which he stood, very justly tended to lessen the 
confidence of the public in his statements, and his 
little book made slight impression. The Mormons 
charged that he was an adventurer of the worst 
<3lass — ^himself a counterfeiter, etc., and that he 
quarrelled with the prophet and the authorities 
-^jecause he was detected and exposed. 

Among the other many chai-ges made by Jackson 
against Smith, was one, that he had been employed 
by the latter to go to Independence and assassinate 
Governor Bosfffs of Missouri ; that he was furnished 
with a horse and travelling outfit, and actually set 
out on the journey ; but after being absent some 
time, returned with some plausible excuse for his 
failure. 

Although embraced in the writs issued at the 
instance of McConnell, Jackson was not mdicted 
by the grand jury, and no further effort was ever 



2ns THE PBOPHET OF PAL3fYnA. 

made to arrest him. The same miiy be said of 
William and Wilson Law, and Dr. Robert D. and 
Charles A. Foster! 

At the October term, 1844, of the Hancock cir- 
cuit court, Hon. Jesse B. Thomas presiding, the 
grand jury, after a five days' session, brought into 
court two bills of indictment against nine individ- 
uals, one for the murder of Joseph Smith, and the 
other for the murder of Hyrum Smith, namely : 
Levi Williams, Jacob C. Davis, Mark Aldrich, 
Thomas C. Sharp, William Yoras, John Wills, 

William N. Grover, Gallaher, and Allen. 

Of these, Colonel Williams had been in command 
of the Warsaw regiment that had been disbanded 
on the prairie ; Captain Aldrich was an officer of 
the same ; Davis and Grover were attorneys-at- 
law, and Sharp was also an attorney, and editor of 
the Warsaw 8ignal. 

Immediately on announcement of the indict- 
ments, most of the defendants appeared and asked 
for an immediate trial. To this the prosecu- 
tion objected, on the ground of not being ready. 
The witnesses before the grand jury had been 
allowed to go home without being recognized, and 
would have to be re-subpcenaed. It was finally 
agreed that the causes be postponed to next term, 
and that no capias should issue from the clerk in 
the interim, if the defendants would pledge them- 



ABl^ESTS, INDICTMEIsTS, TmALS. 299 

selves to appear at the time agreed on — a compro- 
mise which was afterwards violated by the prosecu- 
tion. Subpoenas were asked for by the prosecution 
for thirty or forty witnesses — among whom were 
Governor Ford, Mrs. Emma Smith, and John Tay- 
lor — yet none of these were called, or appeared on 
the trial. 

The trial of these important causes occurred on 
May 19, 1845, Hon. Richard M. Young, judge. 
Josiah Lamborn, a noted prosecutor of Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, was retained by the Governor to 
assist in the prosecution. Hon. William A. Rich- 
ardson of Rushvillc, Orville H. Browning, Calvin 
A. Warren, Archibald Williams, of Quincy, and 
Onias C. Skinner and Thomas Morrison, Esquires, 
of Hancock, appeared for the defendants. A mo- 
tion of defendants was sustained by the court, to 
quash the array of jurors selected for the first week, 
on account of supposed prejudice of the County 
Commissioners who selected them, and of the 
Sheriff and his deputies* ; also another motion for 
the appointment of two elisors, for the same cause 
and the absence of the Coroner from the county. 
The elisors had a thankless and arduous task to 
perform. Usually it is not hard to find men willing 
to sit on juries ; in this case few were willing to 

* Andrew H. Perkins and George Conlsou, Commissioners — 
both Mormons — and General Minor R. Deming, Sheriff— elected 
by Mormon votes. 



300 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

try the experiment of going to court with the al- 
most certainty of being rejected by one or the 
other party ; and the position was not an enviable 
one, if chosen. Ninety-six men were summoned 
and brought into court before the requisite panel 
of twelve was full. The trial lasted till the 30th, 
when the jury was instructed by the court ; and after 
a deliberation of several hours, returned a verdict 
of Not Guilty. 

Various instructions to the jury — as was the prac- 
tice in those days — ^had been asked for by both 
parties. The following, from a list of nine, asked 
for by defendants' counsel, were given, and prob- 
ably had most weight in producing the verdict of 
acquittal ; 

" That, when the e^ddence is circumstantial, ad- 
mitting all to be proven which the evidence tends 
to prove, if then the jury can make any supposition 
consistent with the facts, by which the murder 
might have been committed without the agency of 
the defendants, it will be their duty to make that 
supposition, and find the defendants not guilt3^ 

" That, in making up their verdict, they will 
exclude from their consideration all that was testi- 
fied by Daniels, Brackenbury, and Miss Graham 
(witnesses). 

*' That, whenever the probability is of a definite 
and limited nature, whether in the proportion of 
one hundred to one, or of one thousand to one, or 
any ratio, is immaterial, it cannot be safely made 
the ground of conviction ; for to act upon it in any 
case, would be to decide that for the sake of con- 



ABRJBSTS, INDICTMENTS, TBIALS, 301 



victing many criminals the life of an innocent man 
might be sacrificed." — Sfai'kie, 508. 

This trial was for the murder of Joseph Smith 
only. The same defendants were required to entev 
into recognizance of $5,000 each (with fourteen, 
sureties) to the June term. At said term the de- 
fendants appeared, the case was called, and no 
prosecutors an.swering, it was dismissed and the' 
defendants discharged. 

It has been the custom for sensational writers' 
and others to treat this trial and verdict as farcical 
and an outrage. It has been charged that the jury, 
the court, and the people, all knew that the defend- 
ants were guilty. If all knew it, it ought certainly 
and might have been proven. All knew that a 
double murder had been committed. There were 
some facts not generally taken into account and 
not considered by these writers, which tend to 
show how extremely difficult it was to find out the 
guilty ones. The Mormons had arrested one El- 
liott, the two Laws, two Fosters, and two Higbees at 
Kock Island, charged with the ofience ; and when 
the grand jury w^as in session, the names of about 
sixty persons were presented to them for indict- 
ment. One of these sixty has since informed the 
writer that he afterward learned how he had nar- 
rowly escaped indictment, although at home when 
the crime was committed. It has since transpired 



302 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

that the evidence before the grand jury was so in- 
conclusive, that they voted first on the whole sixty, 
and failing to indict, struck off ten and voted again, 
and so on to the last nine, when the indictment 
carried. It has also transpired that the bills were 
found against these nine — some as principals and 
some as accessories — almost solely on the testi- 
mony of the three witnesses whose evidence on 
the trial the court instructed the petit jury to dis- 
regard.* It has further been said in disparage- 
ment of the jury, that ninety-six men had to be 
summoned and questioned before the proper num- 
ber for a jury could be found sufficiently ignorant 
and indifferent to fill the place. The writer knew, 
from a personal acquaintance with at least six of 
that jury, that, instead of being ignorant and indif- 
ferent, they were men of intelligence, probity, and 
worth. 

Far be it from us to excuse mobbers or mur- 
derers. But we remember that there is a vast dif- 
ference between knowing that a murder has been 
committed, and knowing by whom it was done. 

* The witnesses Daniels and Brackenhnry dealt largely in 
the supernatural in their testimony ; -v^ hUe that of Miss Gra- 
ham, though weU-meaning and honest, was contradictory. 



STRUGGLE FOB THE ;SUaUE;S;SlOA. i)03 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

STRUGGLE FOR THE SUCCESSION. 

Sidney Rigdon — Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson 
Pratt, Williaisi Smith, Orson Hyde, James J. Strang 
— An Ecclesiastical Trial — Hyde on Rigdon. 

If anything could be needed to condemn Mor- 
monism, and convince the world of its folly and 
wickedness, it is to be found in the many quarrels 
and contentions of its leading men, and the vituper- 
ation they heap upon each other when at variance. 
During the prophet's lifetime he was almost con- 
stantly in a quarrel with one or more of his follow- 
ers and former trusted associates, denouncing and 
excommunicating them b}^ turns , month after month , 
and then retaking them back to his embrace and 
confidence. Poor Martin Harris, who furnished the 
means to bring the Book of Mormon before the 
world, was placed under the malediction of the 
Lord even while the financial question was pend- 
ing, and once or twice afterwards devoted to Satan's 
bufietings. Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, 
whilst in Missouri, were also sent on the same 
errand, and the same maledictions sent after them. 
The former never came back to seek reconcili.'ilion ; 



SOi THE PBOPHET OF PAL2iTBA. 

the latter, while he cannot forgive the blow, yet 
licked the hand that smote him. So Rigdon, 
Phelps, Williams, McLellin, and numbers of others, 
have had their '< buffetings," then " repented," and 
returned (most of them) to their old places, or 
subordinate ones, in the camp. 

After the prophet's death, as was to be expected, 
a great struggle began for the possession of the 
mantle that had fallen from his shoulders. The 
grief at his death was, no doubt, genuine on the 
part of the main body of his followers ; but on the 
part of the few, was very much assuaged by the 
hope of assuming his place and honors. Rigdon, who 
all the world knows had the best right, if any right 
existed in the case, was soon sent back to Pittsburgh 
a shorn and discomfited man. He had been residing 
in that city — sent away from Nauvoo for a purpose 
— before the death of the Smiths ; but after that 
event, had returned, hoping to secure the leader- 
ship. Though in times past he and Cowdery had 
furnished the chief brain supply in fixing up the 
creed, he had no talent for organizing and com- 
manding. Brigham Young, who had also been 
absent, hastened home, and by his superior ability 
soon had the rest of the Twelve under his control, 
and working in his interest. Orson Hyde and the 
two Pratts were all abler men than he on the plat- 
form, but in the council and among the people he 



STBUGGLE FOB THE SUCCESSION. 305 

was not to be resisted. He was first elected to the 
position of Lieutenant-General of the Legion, the 
place occupied by the fallen chief; and step by step 
afterwards he attained the first position in the 
church. 

Rigdon could only succeed in gathering a small 
knot of the faithful around him, and their scheme 
seems to have been to locate the Zion anew some- 
where in the reoion of Pittsburo:h. This was one of 
his fatal errors. The Mormon star had ever tended 
westward, and the idea of turning its course back 
toward the East was not to be entertained. So 
Eigdon was denounced as a disturber of the peace 
and an apostate, and a conference called to sit in in- 
quisition over him. The charge against him was — 
a little of everything bad ; but the oifence for which 
he was tried and condemned, though not just so 
expressed, was that he wished to be President of 
the church. The trial is repoi^ted at great length 
in the Times and Seasons, and deserves a place in 
the history of ecclesiastical tribunals. The vote was 
finally put on the motion offered by W. W. Phelps : 

*< That Elder Rigdon be cut off from the church, 
and delivered over to the bufietings of Satan until 
he repents." 

The vote, says the report, " was unanimous, 
excepting about ten." A motion was then made by 
some sanguinary member, to cut ofi* the ten by one 



306 THE PROPHET OF PALMYPA. 

sweep of the axe. This was deemed impolitic, and 
the motion failed. A better way was found : nine 
were taken separately and by name, and on separate 
charges, and thus cut off by unanimous votes. 
Elder Marks, one of the ten, made a speech in 
favor of Rigdon ; but the conference had hopes of 
him and he was not expelled. The conference 
closed after Elder Young had delivered Rigdon over 
to the buffetings of Satan *' in the name of the 
Lord," " and all the people said Amen ! " 

Mr. Marks showed his appreciation of the leniency 
of the conference toward him, by publishing in the 
next Times and Seasons a statement that after 
candid consideration he had become convinced that 
Sidney Eigdon's claims to the Presidency were not 
founded in truth. Rigdon went back to Pittsburgh 
a poor and abused man. Aged and infirm, de- 
prived of his rights in the church he had been the 
chief instrument in forming, and able to carry but 
a small remnant of the people with him, he still 
adhered to the faith, and made feeble efforts to 
effect a reorganization. Since his death, which 
occurred some years since, it is believed his adher- 
ents have principally joined the reorganized branch 
under Joseph Smith, the younger. 

It is remarkable to observe with what violence 
this aged counsellor was pursued by the Twelve, 
and the perhaps equal acrimony with which he re- 



STRUGGLE FOB THE SUCGESSIOJ^. 307 

turned their assaults. In an issue of the JVetghbor 
of December 18, 1844, is to be found an article 
under the signature of Orson Hyde, in which the 
following language occurs : 

'< Mr. Rigdon, do you not remember how you 
came into a certain council about the first of April 
or latter part of March last, that had been organ- 
ized by Joseph Smith ; and also how you danced 
and shouted, and threw your feet so high that you 
came well nigh falling backwards upon the stove? 
Certainly you must remember this ; for you frothed 
at the mouth like a madman, and gave glory to God 
so long and loud that you became entirely hoarse 
and exhausted. Your song was, ' Glory to God 
and the Lamb, that I have lived in this time ; Hal- 
lelujah to Jesus, that mine eyes have seen this day ; 
and thanks to my brethren that I have ])een per- 
mitted to enter here, for of a surety God is with 
you in power and glor}^' . . . Now you say 
that Joseph was a bad man, and has been for a long- 
time. You say that all the authorities here are base 
and wicked. . . . And why are you now 
prating against him and the church, giving yourself 
the lie and rendering yourself a burlesque upon all 
honesty, integrity, consistency, and uprightness? 
. Your race, sir, is about run ; and unless 
you speedily repent the hand of God will soon be 
heavily upon you. . . . But if you do repent, 
you are only damned for this world in the eyes of 
men, and may get salvation at last. . . . When 
thy memory only lives to be a stink in thy nostrils, 
and also in the nostrils of God and his people ; 
when thou art as powerless as John C. Bennett, or 
Judas Iscariot, then know that you have fought 
against Jehovah and lied in his holy name." 

In the JSfeighhor of December 4, 1844, we find 



308 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTEA. 

another letter addressed by Hyde to Rigdon from 
Cincinnati, through tlie medium of the New York 
Prophet, In this letter, the charge is made by 
innuendo that Rigdon was a murderer while in 
Missouri, and that he counselled murder for dis- 
obedience to the leaders. Hyde used this lan- 
guage : 

*' Elder Rigdon has been associated with Joseph 
and Hyrum Smith as a councillor to the church, and 
he told me in Far West that it was the imperative 
duty of the church to obey the word of Joseph 
Smith, or the Presidency, without questioning or 
inquiry ; and that if there were any that would not, 
they should have their throats cut from ear to ear. 
. . . Such kind of language I never heard from 
Joseph or Hyram Smith ; [ ?] neither did they 
preach a ' Salt Sermon,' nor tell a ' Granny Par- 
rish story,' nor boast of tlivoimng any one aside 
into the hazel hush.'' ( !) 

And he adds : 

<' You have evidence that ever since then I have 
looked upon you as a base and wicked tyrant. And 
in that character do I now regard you." 

And yet Orson Hyde was a co-worker with Rig- 
don for three years at Xauvoo, knowing, as he says, 
that he was a murderer, and an adviser and abettor 
of murder. And he is still to this day, in Utah, 
upholding and vindicating a Presidency whose first 
claim is the unquestioned obedience of its followers. 

William Smith, whom everybody called " Patri- 



STBUGGLE FOU THE SUCCESSION, 309 

arch Bill" (all the Smiths, including the father of 
the family, we believe, have enjoyed the patri- 
archal perquisites at one time or another) , the only 
male member left of the family, also believed that 
he had rights to be the successor by virtue of his 
kinship, which should be respected, and he also hur- 
ried to Nauvoo to advance his claims. But he was 
vacillating and weak, and sadly lacking in the 
mental traits necessar}^ for a leader. So he fell 
into the ifieshes of the Twelve and Brigham Young, 
and quietly settled down into the business of dis- 
pensing " Patriarchal Blessings " for pay, and the 
church organ advised the brethren and sisters to 
patronize him. But the blessings being of poor 
value, or for some other cause, the pay became 
unsatisfactory, and he again became troublesome — 
quarrelled with and denounced the Twelve — and at 
length went and joined the new prophet, Strang, 
in Wisconsin. After the leaders had left for the 
West, he came back to Nauvoo, thinking there 
might be a chance again, and tried to prevent the 
remnant from following Brigham Young into the 
wilderness. But failing in this, he, Rigdon, and 
Strang organized a trinity which succeeded in 
drawing together some of the scattered faithful ones. 
William is now, we believe, in his old age, an elder 
in the branch headed by his nephew. 



310 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

About this time, Mr. Saulsbuiy also, a brother- 
in-law to the prophet, though never a prominent 
leader, came out against Young and the Twelve in 
a letter to the Warsaw Signal^ denouncing and 
making charges against them, of much the same char- 
acter as Rigdon and Law and Bennett had done. 

But, through it all, Brigham Young maintained 
his supremacy over the Twelve and the people ; a 
supremacy which he held as long as they remained in 
Illinois, all through their long and perilous journey 
in the wilderness, and for more than a quarter of 
a century afterwards in their sequestered mountain 
home. Joseph Smith, in the fourteen years that 
he had lived as a prophet, with the aid of Harris, 
Cowdery, Rigdon, Pratt, and others, had succeeded 
in building up a crude system and bringing together 
a few thousands of discontented and marvel-seek- 
ing spirits. It was Young who, through the ordeal 
of suffering and sorrow and death — an ordeal 
which fed the coyotes of the plains and wilderness 
with human flesh, and whitened a long trail with 
human bones — established a power in the heart 
of the continent, strong enough to defy the gov- 
ernment and laugh at all efforts to control it. 
Since his death, it has fallen under the guidance 
of far weaker hands. Had it not been for his 
influence at the death of the prophet, there is rea- 



fSTBUGGLB FOB THE SUCCESSION: 311 

son to believe that Mormonism, instead of l)eing 
now a monster in Utah, would be divided into 
as many isms in the States as there were ambi- 
tious leaders to fulminate a prophecy or originate 
a creed. 



312 THE PHOPEET OF PALMYBA* 



CHAPTER XXXn. 

A NEW PROPHET — ^JAMES J. STRANG. 

Strang's Claim to the Succession — His Revelation — Sets 
UP at Vokee — He, too, Finds Plates — His Arrogance 
AND Pretensions — Arrested for Treason — Tried and 
Acquitted — A PoLYOAisnsT — His Violent Death — Fate 
of Mormon Prophets. 

Mr. Strang was also a New Yorker, the son of 
a farmer, but had taught school, lectured, and stud- 
ied law. He drifted to the West, and was engaged 
in practice in Burlington, Wisconsin. Smith's seem- 
ing success at Nauvoo attracted his attention, and 
he came to that city early in 1844, joined the church 
and was baptized, and was at once ordained an 
elder. He chose Wisconsin for his field of opera- 
tions. Although he had been a convert but a few 
months, he was at the prophet's death ambitious 
of prophetic honors and emoluments, and claimed 
the right of succession on ground different from 
that of any of the other aspirants — ^that of appoint- 
ment from the Lord, through Smith himself, com- 
municated to him by letter from Nauvoo only a few 



A NEW FMOPHET. 313 

days before Smith was killed. That revelation read 

in part as follows : 

<«And now, behold, my servant James J. Strang 
hath come to thee from far, for truth, when he knew 
it not, and hath not rejected it, but had faith in 
thee, the Shepherd and Stone of Israel, and to him 
shall the gathering of the people be ; for he shall 
plant a stake of Zion in Wisconsin, and I will es- 
tablish it, and there shall my people have peace and 
rest, and shall not be moved, for it shall be estab- 
lished on White River, in the lands of Racine and 
Walworth. . . . And I will have a house built 
unto me of stone, and there will I show myself to 
my peo])le by many mighty works ; and the name 
of the city shall be called Yoree, which is, being 
interpreted. Garden of Peace — for there shall my 
people have peace and rest, and wax fat and pleas- 
ant in presence of their enemies." 

Strang was able to exhibit a letter envelope with 
the proper Nauvoo post-mark and date, in proof of 
his claim; yet the time, the occasion, the circum- 
stance, and even the style, strongly tend to the 
conclusion that it was all a forgery, and never 
emanated from Smith at all. Whether a forgery 
or not, he proceeded to carry out the purpose 
therein foreshadowed. Through his whole after 
career he servilely followed in Smith's footsteps, 
imitated his methods, and ended his inglorious 
career in much the same manner. At Yoree he 
planted the " Stake of Zion," began prophesying, 
obtaining revelations, and secured a band of fol- 
lowers. He also issued a small monthly organ, 



314 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

called the Voree Herald. Not to be outdone by 
his predecessor, he had some plates revealed to 
him — the proof of which is to be found in the fol- 
lowing : 

TESTIMONY OF FOUR WITNESSES. 

<< On the 13th day of September, 1845, we, Aaron 
Smithy Jirah B. Wheelan, James M. Van Nostrand, 
and Edward AA^hitcomb, — assembled at the call of 
James J. Strang, who is by us and many others 
approved as a prophet and seer of God. He pro- 
ceeded to inform us that it had been revealed to 
him in a vision that an account of an ancient people 
was buried in a hill south of White Eiver bridge, 
near the east line of "Walworth County ; and leading 
us to an oak tree about one foot in diameter, told 
us that we could find it enclosed in a case of rude 
earthenware under that tree, at a depth of about 
three feet ; requested us to dig it up, and charged 
us to examine the ground, that we should know we 
were not imposed upon, and that it bad not been 
buried since the tree grew. The tree was sur- 
rounded by a sward of deeply-rooted grass, such as 
is usually found in the openings , and upon the most 
critical examination we could not discover any indi- 
cation that it had ever been cut through or dis- 
turbed. 

" We then dug up the tree, and continued to dig 
to the depth of al)out three feet, where we found 
a case of slightly baked clay containing three plates 
of brass. On one side of one is a landscape view 
of the south end of Gardner's prairie, and the range 
of hills where they were dug. On another is a man 
with a crown on his head, and a sceptre in his hand ; 
above, is an qjq before an upright line ; below, the 
sun and moon surrounded by twelve stars ; at the 



A 2^EW FBOTIIKT. 315 

bottom are twelve large stars, from three of which 
pillars arise, and closely interspersed with them are 
seven very small stars. The other four sides are 
very closely covered with what appear to be alpha- 
betic characters, but in a language of which we 
have no knowledge. 

"The case was found imbedded in indurated 
clay so closely fitting that it broke in taking out, 
and the earth below the soil was so hard as to be 
dug with difficulty, even w^ith a pick-axe. Over 
the case was found a flat stone about one foot wide 
each way and three inches thick, which appeared to 
have undergone the action of fire, and fell to pieces 
after a few minutes' exposure to the air. The dig- 
ging extended in the clay about eighteen inches, 
there beino- two kinds of earth of difierent color and 
appearance above it. 

<« We examined as we dug, all the way with the 
utmost care, and we sa}^, with utmost confidence, 
that no part of the earth through which we dug 
exhibited any sign or indication that it had been 
moved or disturbed at any previous time. The 
roots of the tree struck down very closely on every 
side, extending below the case, and closely inter- 
woven with roots from other trees. ]None of 
them had been broken or cut away. No clay is 
found in the country like that of which this case is 
made. 

"In fine, we found an alphabetic and pictorial 
record, carefully cased up, buried deep in the 
earth, covered with a flat stone, with an oak tree 
one foot in diameter growing over it, with every 
evidence that the sense can give that it has lain as 
long as that tree has been growing. Strang took 
no part in the digging, but kept entirely awny from 
before the first blow was struck till after the plates 
were taken out of the case ; and the sole inducement 
to our digging was our faith in his statement as a 



316 THE TBOPHET OF PALMTBA, 

prophet of the Lord, that a record would thus and 
there be found. 

Aaron Smith, J. M. Van Nostrand, 

JiRAH B. Wheelan, Edward Whitcomb." 

These three plates our Wisconsin prophet did not 
at once proceed to translate, as the box contained 
no " Urim and Thummim"to aid him — a negli- 
gence on the part of the later Nephi or Moroni, for 
which it is hard to account. At a subsequent day, 
however, eighteen more plates were vouchsafed 
him, which he called the plates oi Laban — strangely 
forgetful of the fact, that the plates of Laban, stolen 
and carried off by the sons of Lehi, had been de- 
posited, together with his sword, in Cumorah Hill 
in the State of New York. An angel brought him 
a '*Urim and Thummim" at length, and in due 
course of time all were translated, from what lan- 
o^uao^e we do not learn. The three are thus ren- 
dered : 

" My people are no more. The mighty are 
fallen, and the young men are slain in battle. 
Their bones are bleached on the plains, by the noon- 
day shadow. The houses are level with the dust, 
and in the moat are the walls : They shall be inhab- 
ited. I have in the burial served them ; and their 
bones in the death-shade toward the sun's rising 
are covered. The}^ sleep with the mighty dead, 
and they rest with their fethers. They have fallen 
in transgression, and are not; but the elect and 
faithful there shall dwell. 

«' The Word hath revealed it. God hath sworn 



A NEW PEOFHET, S17 

to give an inheritance to his people where trans- 
gressors perished. The Word of God came to me 
while I mourned in the death-shade, saying I will 
avenge me on the destroyed. They shall be driven 
out. Other strangers shall inhabit thy land. I an 
ensign will then set up. The escaped of my peo- 
ple there shall dwell, when the flock disowns the 
Shepherd and build not on the rock. 

*' The forerunner men shall kill, but a mighty 
prophet there shall dwell. I will be his strength, 
and he shall bring forth the record. Eecord my 
Word, and bury it in the Hill of Promise. 
'* (Signed), 

" Eajah Manchore." 

The remaining plates were translated from time 
to time, and published under the title of: 

'* The Book of the Law of the Lord, 

<* Consisting of an Inspired Translation of Some 
of the Most Important Parts of the Laio given 
to Moses ^ and a Very Feiv Additional Com- 
7nandmentSf loith Brief Kotes and References.''' 

All this, it will be seen, was a feeble imitation of 
Smith's methods, which had been so successful 
fifteen years before ; the testimony, however, to 
the discovery of the plates lacked the angelic and 
the impossible element, and hence was less success- 
ful. But it was not without its results. Quite a 
colony of believers was formed at Yoree, and after 
a time transferred to Beaver Island in Lake Mich- 
igan. Here it greatly increased in numbers ; and 
assuming the same arrogant pretensions adopted 



318 THE PBOPHET OF PALIIYHA, 

by the elder prophet, Strang also became inimici 
to his neighbors and to the goYernment. Strifes 
and discord ensued ; he was arrested for treason 
by order of the United States authorities, taken 
to Detroit, tried, and acquitted. Returning to 
Beaver Island, his aggressive career was re- 
sumed. He was finally murdered by some of his 
apostate followers in 1856 — after which the col- 
ony dispersed ; and at this day little is heard 
of the Prophet Strang, his plates, his translations, 
his prophecies, his dishonored life, or tragical 
death. 

Following openly the example set him clandes- 
tinely at Xauvoo, he, too, was a polygamist, 
and is said to have had five or six wives at his 
death. As in the case of his more successful pro- 
totype, the assumption of infallible kingly and 
i^riestly power, the gathering to one holy Zion, and 
the disobedience to law, were the rocks on which 
he was wrecked. 

The ofiice of "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator," 
in the Mormon sj^stem, has been a dangerous one. 
All but one who have occupied it have met tragical 
fates. First, Joseph Smith, its inventor — mur- 
dered by a mob in an Illinois jail in 1844 ; second, 
Strang — shot on an island in Lake Michigan ; and, 
third, Morris — butchered as an apostate among 



A KEW PROPHET, 319 

the mountain fastnesses of Utah in 1862; — terri- 
ble, but not unnatural, results from lives of wicked- 
ness and blasphemy. Who would be a Mormon 
Prophet ! 



320 TKE PROPHET OF PALM YEA., 



CHAPTER XXXni. 

MORE VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. 

Three Obnoxious Officials — Aerest of Senator Davis^ 
Nauvoo Charter Repealed — Increase of Theft- 
Murder OF Miller ant) Leiza — Of Irvine Hodge — Ob 
Col. Davenport— Of Dr. Marshall — Death of Sherifb 
Deming — Burning of Morley-To^vn — Killing of Lieut. 
Worrell — Of McBratney —Incident of the Burning 
— Killing of Wilcox and Daubenheyer — Arrival of 
Col. Hardin with State Troops. * 

The year 1844 was one of disorder and blood 
in Hancock County : but that of 1845 was more 
bloody still. At the August election of 1844, 
three very obnoxious men had been elected to 
office : Almon W. Babbitt, a Mormon attorney, 
and Jacob B. Backenstos, one of those much-hated 
men known as Jack-Mormons, to the Legisla- 
ture ; and General Minor R. Deming to the office 
of Sheriif. 

As before stated, the agreement entered into that 
no arrests should be made of the parties under in- 
dictment for the murder of the Smiths, was violated 
by the prosecution, and frequent attempts were 
made to arrest some of them during the winter by 
the Sheriff and his deputies. Jacob C. Davis, 



3I0BE VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. 321 

one of them, was a Senator in the State Legi fi- 
lature, and at the opening of the session he 
took his seat in that body. During the Avinter he 
was arrested at the Capital by an officer from Han- 
cock County ; but was ordered released hy a reso- 
lution of the Senate. 

During the session a move was made to repeal 
the charter of the city of Nauvoo, and on January 
21, 1845, the measure passed the House of Repre- 
sentatives by a vote of 76 yeas to 36 nays. It 
subsequent!}^ passed the Senate by a large majority. 
The repeal was strenuously opposed by both Bab- 
bitt and Backenstos — by the latter in a violent 
speech, which greatly incensed the Anti-Mormon 
community against him. 

During the winter and spring — as a result of the 
unsettled condition of affairs at Nauvoo, and the con- 
sequent hard times — there was an unusual amount 
of stealing done, not only in the cit}^ but in other 
parts of the county. It extended also to Adams, 
Henderson, and other adjoining counties. In 
Adams, where arrests could be made, there were as 
many as eight Mormons in jail at one time for 
these petty offences. In the city the two parties, 
'' Twelveites " and *' Eigdonites," charged the of- 
fences to each other. The nuisance became so in- 
supportable, that public meetings were held at va- 
rious points to devise means of protection and re- 



322 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

dress. Township committees were appointed to 
collect statistics of these thefts for publication, 
which was done, footing up hundreds of dollars in 
some townships. Some of these reports, there is 
reason to believe, were exaggerated ; but as many 
must have been omitted, it is safe to say the totals 
did not exceed the truth. Of course, it was not 
proven, or even known, that these depredations 
were all committed by Mormons, and they probably 
were not. The suggestion has been often made 
that much of this thieving may have been done on 
Mormon credit ; which, in itself, is an admission 
against them ; but that a large per cent, of it was 
perpetrated by members of that fraternity, all cir- 
cumstances go to show. And events that trans- 
pired this year, show that they harbored among 
them men who did not hesitate at robbery and 
assassination. 

On Saturday night. May 10, 1845, a horrible 
robbery and murder was committed near the town 
of Franklin, Lee County, Iowa, on the persons of 
John Miller, a Mennonite German minister from 
Pennsylvania, and Mr. Leiza, his son-in-law. The 
latter was not killed, but died of his wounds soon 
afterwards. The locality is about ten or twelve 
miles from Nauvoo, across the Mississippi, and the 
murderers, three in number, were traced to that 
city. Their names were William Hodge, Stephen 



MOIiE VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. 323 

Hodge (brothers) , and Thomas Brown. The Hodges 
were arrested on the 13th, and conveyed to the 
Iowa penitentiary at Fort Madison for safe-keeping. 
On the loth, they were indicted by the grand jury 
in the Lee district court, then in session at West 
Point, and on the 21st were arraigned for trial. 
They asked for a change of venue, and the cause 
was certified to Des Moines County. On the 21st 
of June they were put upon their trial at Bur- 
lington. They were defended by J. C. Hall and 
F. D. Mills, two eminent attorneys of the Bur- 
lington bar, and by Geo. Edmunds, Esq. , of Nauvoo. 
The trial lasted about a week and ended in a ver- 
dict of Guilty. Judge Mason sentenced them to 
the gallows, and on the 15th of July they were duly 
executed. 

On the night of the 23d of June, Irvine Hodge, 
brother to the accused, was assassinated in Nauvoo, 
while on his way home from a visit to his doomed 
brothers in the Burling*ton jail. He had, it was 
said, endeavored to induce Brigham Young to send 
and have his brothers rescued from jail ; and failing, 
had been free in denouncino- his chief for refusinof 
to authorize the raid. But little notice was taken 
in Nauvoo of this murder ; no arrests were made, 
and no one was ever brought to trial for the crime. 
The perpetrator or the purpose of this murder 
may never be known. The ''Patriarch" William 



324 THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYPA. 

Smith's letter to the Sangamo Journal, ch«ted Sep- 
tember 24, 1846, may throw some light on the 
subject : 

*' Irvine Hodge was murdered within twelve feet 
of Brigham Young's door. Amos Hodge, it is said, 
was murdered between Montrose and Nashville, 
Iowa [tvv^o towns across the river from Nauvoo] , 
by Brigiiam Young's guard, who pretended to escort 
him out of Nauvoo for his safety, under cover 
of women's clothes — who then pretended that he 
had run away. . . . If Mr. Amos Hodge, the 
father of these young Hodges, will call and see 
me, I can tell him the naines of persons that will 
put him on the track of the men who murdered his 
sons.'' 

But why did not Mr. Smith communicate those 
names to the grand jury, in order that the perpe- 
trators of those secret crimes might be brought to 
justice? And why has he these long years since 
withheld from the public and the authorities his 
knowledge of the matter ? Whatever he may have 
been then, he claims to be now a law-abiding man 
and good citizen, yet we never heard that he has 
ever given any other information concerning it, than 
is contained by innuendo in that letter.* 

On the trial of the Hodge l:)rothers at Burlington, 
the accused made an affidavit for witnesses to prove 
an alihi, claiming to rely upon the testimony of ^\Q 



* At the present writing, we believe Mr. Smith is still living, 
and occupying a position of distinction in the Recrganized 
Church. 



MOBE VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. 326 

or six named residents of Nauvoo, and upon that of 
John Long, Aaron Long, and Judge Fox, who, 
they said, resided in St. Louis. These names will 
be remembered in the annals of Mormon crime as 
the parties who, a few days later, perpetrated the 
murder of Colonel Davenport at Kock Island. 

Colonel Davenport had many years before been 
connected with the United States army, and on 
leaving the service, had acquired and made a home 
contiguous to Fort Armstrong, on that beauti- 
ful island in the Mississippi. The murder was com- 
mitted on the 4th of July, 1845, whilst all the family 
except himself were attending a celebration on the 
mainland in Illinois. He was an aged and quite 
infirm man, and was quietly sitting in his house 
reading, when he was attacked by the robbers. 
Kising to approach the door, at which he heard a 
noise, it was pushed open, and three men entered, 
one of whom discharged a pistol at him, the ball 
entering his thigh. He was then dragged through 
the hall and up-stairs to a closet containing his safe, 
which they compelled him to open. After obtain- 
ing its contents and money from his bureau draw- 
ers, they left him, still tied upon his bed, and 
bleeding from his wounded thigh and beatings he 
had received. In this condition he was some time 
afterwards found. Surgical aid was procured as 
soon as possible from the town of Rock Island, and 



326 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

he was revived sufficiently to describe the assassins 
and the circumstances ; but he died about ten o'clock 
the same evening. 

A reward of $1,500 was offered for the arrest and 
conviction of the murderers by his son, George L. 
Davenport ; and John Long, Aaron Long, and 
Granville Young, were finally arrested, tried, and 
hung for the offence. Judge Fox was also arrested, 
but made his escape ; while a fifth one, named Birch, 
— a daring desperado, said to have been connected 
with the Danite Band, and probably the worst of 
the five — escaped punishment by turning State's 
evidence. 

During this year, also, numerous minor acts of 
robbery and theft were committed in Lee County, 
Iowa, and along the river, traceable in almost all 
cases to a gang of desperadoes having their head- 
quarters in Nauvoo. 

While these acts of violence were being perpe- 
trated out of the county, a most lamentable tragedy 
was enacted at home. On June 24th, an alterca- 
tion occurred in the court-house in Carthaofe, be- 
tween Dr. Samuel Marshall, the County Clerk, and 
the Sheriff of the county, General Minor E. Deming, 
which resulted in the death of the former at the 
hand of the latter. The difficulty arose about some 
trivial official business. Dr. Marshall was a man 
of very exact and punctual habits in all his affairs, 



3fOBE VIOLENCE AXD BLOODSHED. 327 

and he desired others to be equally so ; and the Sher- 
iflTs seemmg neglect of certain duties irritated him. 
A scuffle ensued, in which the General drew a pistol 
and shot his antagonist. The affair was an unfor- 
tunate one, as it caused the deaths of two reputable 
men and good officers, who, in ordinary times, 
might have been friends, and added greatly to the 
excitement already existing. Dr. Marshall was a 
strong Anti-Mormon in his feelings and principles, 
and had the full confidence of the party ; yet he 
resolutely refused to sanction an}^ of their unlawful 
proceedings. He was one of a number in the 
county — far too few — who believed it better to 
suffer all the ills resulting from Mormonism, rather 
than resort to illegal and violent measures for re- 
dress. 

General Deming was taken into custody, and the 
circuit court being in session, was indicted for 
manslaughter by the grand jury. A continuance 
was had and he was released on bail. But he was 
never brought to trial. He retired to his home in 
the country, where he was soon afterwards stricken 
with a congestive fever, no doubt brought on or 
aggravated by excitement, and he died September 
10, 1845. He was succeeded in the office of Sheriff 
by the aforesaid J. B. Backenstos at a special elec- 
tion, by the following vote — ^Backenstos, 2,334: 
John Scott (Anti-Mormon Democrat) ,750. 



328 THE riiOTHET OF PALMYBA. 

In the autumn of tliis year (1845), a series of 
events occurred which had no warrant in law or 
order, and which must be condemned by every good 
citizen and friend of good government. They had 
for their object the forcible expulsion of the whole 
Mormon community from the county and State. 
The disorders at Nauvoo, the vast amount of thiev- 
ing and other depredations upon* property, the 
many murders in the vicinity, and the consequent 
feeling of fear and insecurity everywhere, were 
offered in vindication by those who approved the 
measures. And while not accepting the reasoning 
as good, the writer dismisses the point by asking 
those who condemn : What would have been your 
remedy under the circumstances ? 

On the night of September 9th, a meeting of 
Anti-Mormons was being held for some purpose at 
a school-house in Green Plains, when it was fired 
upon by some party in the bush. A village of 
Mormons, known as Morley-Town, was located in 
the near neighborhood. It was at once resolved to 
begin the expulsion of the people from said village 
and vicinity. This resolve was put in execution 
the next night, when two cabins were burned and 
the inmates notified to leave the settlement. For 
a week the burning continued, until the whole of 
the little village was in ashes, together with many 
other residences in the Bear Creek and Green 



MOBE VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. '62\) 

Plains region. In all, it is stated that as many as 
one hundred or one hundred and tw ent3'-five houses 
were burned, and their occupants driven off. 

For humanity's sake, we are glad to be able to 
record the fact that this great destruction of prop- 
erty was accompanied by very little violence or 
personal ill-treatment. Indeed, much of it was 
done in an orderly and peaceable manner, as though 
its perpetrators had warrant of law for their con- 
duct. From a History of Hancock County— 1880, 
we quote the following : 

'* From a very respectable old gentleman (now 
deceased) , who was a witness of some of the house- 
burning operations in the fall of 1845, we have the 
following statement received from him verbally, 
during the last year. He says that for such lawless 
and outrageous acts, they were done in such a quiet 
and orderly manner as to be astonishing. He re- 
sided not far from some of the houses that were 
burned ; and hearing what was going on, he 
mounted his horse and rode to where the work was 
in progress. . . 

'' The manner was to go to a house and warn the 
inmates out — that they were oroing to burn it. 
Usually there would be no show of resistance ; but 
all hands, burners and all, would proceed to take 
out the goods and place them out of danger. When 
the goods were all securely removed, the torch 
would be applied and the house consumed. Then 
on to another. ... As an evidence of the 
coolness and good temper in which this work was 
done, our informant relates the following, to which 
he says he was an eye-witness. ^Yhile the burners 
were engaged in burning a certain house, a young 



330 TUB PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

woman belonging to the family, standing and look- 
ing on, felt an inclination to smoke, and asked one 
of the burners for some tobacco. Having none 
himself, he pointed to one of his comrades, and said 
he would give her some. She approached the other ; 
he unconcernedly put his hand in his pocket, 
handed her the tobacco, from which she took what 
she wanted, and handed it back ; when he went on 
with the work in hand, and she proceeded to 
smoke ! " 

These burnings produced intense excitement all 
over the county. Numbers collected from differ- 
ent quarters to join the rioters. Sheriff' Backenstos 
endeavored to raise a^osse among the old citizens 
to suppress the disturbances, but such was the 
hatred in which he was held outside of Nauvoo, 
that his efforts entirely failed. He thereupon issued 
a proclamation dated at Green Plains, on the 13th, 
calling on the rioters to desist, and upon the jpos8e 
comitatiis of the county to assist him. He also 
stated that it was his policy to have the Mormons 
remain quiet ; but that two thousand armed men 
held themselves in readiness in Nauvoo to come to 
his assistance when necessary. Failing to obtain 
a force outside of the city, he resorted to these, and 
soon succeeded in dispersing the rioters. On the 
16th, Lieutenant Franklin A. Worrell, of the Car- 
thage Greys, was killed by a small squad of his 
posse while crossing the prairie, in no way con- 
nected with the burners : and on the 17th, Samuel 
McBratney, one of the burners, was killed. 



MOl^E VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. 331 

Sheriff Backenstos, at the head of his large force, 
now had the county under his control. On the 
19th, at sun-down, at the head of several hundred 
men, he rode into Carthage, surrounded the place, 
and ordered all the citizens to be arrested and 
brought to headquarters in the court-house. He 
said he was in quest of criminals. After roughly 
handling those most obnoxious to him, and searching 
their houses for arms, most of them were set at lib- 
erty. In the morning the main force was with- 
drawn, fifty men being left to guard the place. 
These remained in possession of the court-house 
some days, until the arrival of General Hardin with 
a force of State troops sent by the Governor, when 
they Avere summarily dismissed. 

Backenstos and the notorious O. P. Eockwell 
of Danite memory, were both subsequently indicted 
for the murder of Worrell, and both acquitted — 
the former under trial by change of venue at Peoria, 
and the latter at Galena. Who was the actual 
guilty pai-ty may never be known. We have 
recently been informed from Salt Lake, by a pai-ty 
in a position to know, that Eockwell did the 
deed under the Sherift's order, which is probably 
true. 

Two other murders were committed about this 
time by Mormons — one in Nauvoo and the other in 
Camp Creek settlement. On the 16th, Phineas 



332 THE FHOFHET OF FALMYEA. 

AVilcox, a youDg man from St. Mary's township, 
went into the city on business : 'was there charged 
with being a spy, and was never afterguards seen 
by his friends. Circumstances strongly showed 
that he had been murdered and thrown into the 
river. The other case — ^that of Andrew Dauben- 
beyer — was equally mysterious for a time. He 
resided in the Camp Creek neighborhood, and was 
known as an active Anti-Mormon. On the 18th 
of September, he started to Carthage with a two- 
horse wagon-load of provisions, which, it is said, 
were intended for the rioters. On the evening of 
the 20th, he left Carthage on horse-back for his 
home, which he never reached ; but on the morning 
of the 21st, his horse came home without him. 
On his road home was an encampment of the 
Sheriff's posse, and the belief was that he had been 
waylaid and killed by them. Search being after- 
wards made, his body was found buried near the 
place of encampment. 

Going back to the origin of the burning : It has 
been charged by the Mormons and their friends, 
that the firing on the school-house at Green Plains 
was a sham — a scheme previously arranged by the 
mobbers to create a sympathy in their behalf, and 
furnish an excuse for the contemplated raid. 
Whether this be true or not, circumstances exist- 
ing at the time render it extremely probable. It 



MOBE YTor.ENCE AND BLOODSHED. S'63 

is hardly to be supposed that the Mormons in that 
remote settlement from the city, and at a time of 
so much excitement Rgainst them, could be so ag- 
gressive as to commit such an act. 



334 THE PROPHET OP PALMYRA. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

NINE COUNTIES INTEEFERE ^THE END APPEOACHING. 

Colonel Hardest and His Ad^t^sers — Major Warren Left 
IN Command— CoN^TiNTiON or I^ine Counties — Brown- 
ing's Resolutions— Action of the Convention — Cor- 
respondence WITH the Mormon Leaders — The Inev- 
itable Accepted. 

As on former occasions, these excesses called for 
executive interference. Accordingly, Governor 
Ford again sent a force of volunteers into the 
county, and again under command of that brave 
and sagacious officer and statesman, Colonel John 
J. Hardin. He was accompanied b}^ Attorney- 
General John A. McDougal, Judge Stephen A. 
Douglas, and Major Wm. B. Warren, as advisers. 
On the arrival of these with a strong body of 
troops, everything became quiet. On the 27th 
of September, General Hardin issued a proclama- 
tion to the people of the county, enjoining them 
to keep the peace and obey the laws and con- 
stituted authorities. In conjunction with his ad- 
visers, he visited N'auvoo and entered into a cor- 
respondence with the authorities of the Mormon 
people, which resulted in their agreeing to leave 
the county and State in the following spring ; after 



NIWE COUNTIES INTEBFEBE, 33 J 

which he withdrew the main body of his forces, 
leaving Major Warren in the county to maintain 
the peace, with a detachment of about one hundred 
men, to remain until withdrawn by the Governor. 
To the discreet action and gentlemanly behavior of 
Major Warren and his officers and men, during the 
winter, the county was much indebted for the good 
order that reigned.* 

Previous to General Hardin's arrival, the people 
of the surrounding counties, in view of the dis- 
turbed condition of the county of Hancock, and 
becoming alarmed for their own safety, determined 
to hold a convention to take the subject into consid- 
eration. That convention may be regarded as a 
turning point in the affairs of the county. It was 
held at Carthage on the first and second days of 
October, and was composed of representative and 
earnest men of high standing in the nine counties 
of Adams, Brown, Pike, Schuyler, Marquette, Mc- 
Donough, Warren, Knox, and Henderson — Han- 
cock being purposely excluded. Fifty delegates 
were reported. Hon. Orville H. Brownino-, of 
Adams, moved for a committee of three from 
each county to prepare and report resolutions; 



* These troops belonged principally to the Qnincy Riflemen, 
an independent company composed of young men of the highest 
character in that city— two of whose officers, Captain James 
D. Morgan and Lieutenant Benjamin M. Prentiss, did conspic- 
uous service later 9«S Generals m the war for the Union. 



336 THE PROPHET OF PALMYllA. 

and after \Yards, as cliairman, presented a series, 
of which we introduce only two, as embracing 
the sense of the convention on the points men- 
tioned : 

^'Resolved, That it is the settled and deliberate 
conviction of this convention, that it is now too 
late to attempt the settlement of the difficulties in 
Hancock County upon any other basis than that of 
the removal of the Mormons from the State; and we 
therefore accept, and respectfully recommend to 
the people of the surrounding counties to accept, 
the proposition made by the Mormons to remove 
from the State next spring, and to wait with patience 
the time for removal. 

^^ Resolved^ That we utterly repudiate the impu- 
dent assertion, so often and so constantly put forth 
by the Mormons, that they are persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake. We do not believe them to be a 
persecuted people. We know that they are not; 
but that whatever grievances they may sufier are 
the necessary and legitimate consequences of their 
illegal, wicked, and dishonest acts." 

At the distance of more than forty years from 
the date when the sentiment, as contained in the 
first of these resolutions, was uttered, it reads 
strangely that such a body of men could be induced 
to sanction the entire expulsion of ten or twelve 
thousand people from a State where they were 
making their homes. And yet that resolution passed 
unanimously, and was applauded and accepted by 
nine-tenths of the fifty or sixty thousand people of 



NINE COUNTIES INTERFERE. 337 

the nine counties that convention represented. Every 
reader of these pages must agree that there is some- 
thing radically wrong in the laws or their admin- 
istration or in the state of society that renders such 
a thing possible. The writer of this was a spec- 
tator at that convention, and he testifies to the high 
character of its members, and knows with what pru- 
dence and earnestness its deliberations were con- 
ducted ; but whether the circumstances at the time 
existing were sufficient to justif}- such action, or 
whether they can exist, is a problem he prefers 
to leave with the reader. The other resolution, 
however, met with his entire assent. And here 
attention is called to the fact, that when the Mor- 
mons first made their appearance in Illinois, six 
years before, all these people sympathized with 
them, and believed their story of persecution. Mr. 
Browning* was especially eloquent in denouncing 
the *' Border Ruffians " of Missouri, for their treat- 
ment of these so-called persecuted and inoflensive 
people. And what could have produced the change ? 
It is preposterous to say that a whole community 
would — or could — in the short space of six years, 
from being warm sympathizers with, and aiders and 
helpers of, an innocent people, turn arouiid and 



* Hon. O. H. Brownin.^ was a resident of Qnincy, a leading 
and abU member of the Bar — and afterwards lield the position 
of United States Senator and Secretary of the Interior. 



3r THE PROPHET OF PALJIYPA. 

become themselves their persecutors. The fact 
exists, as clear as sunlight, that every word of tliis 
second resolution is true. It has been true ever 
since the feeble cry of " persecution " was uttered 
by the embryo-prophet at Palmyra down to this 
convention; and since, through the dreadful scenes 
in the wilderness, till it was stifled in the shrieks 
and cries of defenceless women and children at 
Mountain Meadows and Springville. Yet the cry 
of " Persecution ! " and " Let us alone ! '' is still 
heard on every hand, and echoed through the press 
of the country. 

The action of this convention had a quieting effect 
on the public, and no doubt satisfied many waver- 
ing minds that the conclusion to which it arrived, 
was the only one that would give peace. And the 
Mormons also accepted it as inevitable, and earn- 
estly prepared to act accordingly. As a basis 
for the subsequent action of both parties, the cor- 
respondence heretofore mentioned is here repro- 
duced : 

«'Nauvoo, Oct. 1, 1845. 

** To the First President and Council of the Church 
at JSTauvoo : 

' ' Having had a free and full conversation with you 
this day, in reference to your proposed removal 
from this county, together with the members of 
your Church, we have to request you to sul)mit the 
facts and intentions stated to us in said conversa- 



J^IJSTE COUNTIES INTEBFEBE. 339 

tion to writing, in order that we may lay them 
before the Governor and People of the State. "We 
hope that by so doing it will have a tendency to 
allay the excitement at present existing in the public 
mind. AVe have the honor to subscribe ourselves, 
** Respectfully yours, etc., 

John J. Haedin, 
S. A. Douglas, 
^Y, B. Waeeen, 
J. A. McDouGAL." 

To which the following reply was received : 

**Nauvoo, Oct. 1, 1845. 

<< To Gen. John J. Hardin, 8. A. Douglas, W. 
B. Warren and J. A. McDougal : 

" Messes : In reply to your letter of this date 
requesting us to < submit the facts and intentions 
stated by us to writing, in order that you may lay 
them before the Governor and People of the State,' 
we would refer you to a communication of the 24th 
ultimo, to the ' Quincy Committee,' a copy of which 
is herewith enclosed. 

< ' In addition to this we would say, that we had 
commenced making arrangements to remove from 
this county previous to the recent disturbances ; 
that we now have four companies organized of one 
hundred families each, and six more companies now 
organizing of the same number each, preparatory 
to removal. That one thousand families, including 
the Twelve, the High Council, the Trustees and 
general authorities of the Church, are fully deter- 
mined to remove in the spring, independent of the 
contingency of selling our property, — and that this 
company will comprise from five to six thousand 
souls. 

*« That the Church, as a bodv, desires to remove 



340 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

with us, and will, if sales can be effected, so as to 
raise the necessaiy means. 

< * That the organization of the Church we repre- 
sent is such, that there never can exist but one head 
or Presidency at any one time, and all good mem- 
bers wish to be with the organization ; and all are 
detei-mined to remove to some distant point where 
we shall neither infringe or be infringed upon, so 
soon as time and means will permit. 

*' That we have some hundreds of farms and 
some two thousand or more houses for sale in this 
city and county, and we request all good citizens 
to assist in the disposal of our property. 

' ' That we do not expect to find purchasers for 
our Temple and other public buildings ; but we are 
willing to rent them to a respectable community 
who may inhabit the city. 

<' That we wish it distinctly understood, that, 
although we may not find purchasers for our prop- 
erty, we will not sacrifice or give it away, or suffer 
it illegally to be wrested fi'om us. 

" That we do not intend to sow any wheat this 
fall, and should we all sell we shall not put in any 
more crops of any description. 

*' That as soon as practicable we will appoint com- 
mittees for this city. La Harpe, Macedonia, Bear 
Creek, and all necessary places in the county, to 
give information to purchasers. 

' ' That if these testimonies are not sufficient to 
satisfy any people that we are in earnest, we will 
soon give them a sign that cannot be mistaken — ive 
toill leave them! 
, << In behalf of the Council, 

*' Kespectfully yours, etc., 

' ' Beigha3i Young, •-* 
« ' President, 

<«WlLLARD KiCHARDS, CUrhJ' 



NINE COUNTIES INTEBFEBE, 341 

The communication to the Quincy Committee 
was of similar import, but referred particularly 
and in eloquent terms to their sufferings and 
grievances, here and elsewhere, and begged to be 
let alone. 



342 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE EXODUS BEaUN. 

Active Preparations for Leaving — Crossing into Iowa 
— Major Warren and His Force — Disbanded and Ee- 

MUSTERED — 0. P. EOCKWELL — ArREST, TrIAL, AND AC- 
QUITTAL — Dr. Picket — Posse Under Carlin— Major 
Parker's Force— War of Procla^iations— Singleton's 
Peace— Eesigns the Command — Major Brockman Suc- 
ceeds — Advance toward the City. 

In accordance with the pledge given to General 
Hardin and his associates by Brigham Young on 
behalf of the church, active preparations were made 
in Nauvoo during the winter to remove in the spring. 
Those residing in the country made sales of prop- 
erty as fast as they could, and retired to the city 
in order to join the expeditions. Large numbers 
of wagons and teams were obtained by exchange 
for other property ; many vehicles were manufac- 
tured in the city, and horses and oxen were in great 
demand. Although it had been announced through 
their correspondence that property would not be 
sacrificed, there can be no doubt but many distress- 
ing sacrifices were made — especially of such prop- 
erty as could not be rendered available for the pur- 
poses of the expedition. 



THE EXODUS BEGUN, 343 

Daring all this period, it does not appear that 
any * ' Land of Promise " had been decided on to 
which they were to wend their way ; the main pur- 
pose being to get to some uninhabited region, 
where they could ' ' neither infringe or be infringed 
upon." The nearest, the easiest, the quickest way 
to do that, in the judgment of Young and the lead- 
ers, was to cross the Mississippi into the territory 
of Iowa, and follow the setting sun. This seemed 
to be the plan that would most certainly keep their 
followers together, and hold them in complete sub- 
jection to their leader's will. And the rank and 
file set out on the journey with the heroism of 
martyrs — not knowing whither, or the trials they 
were to undergo ; believing only that in so doing 
they were obeying the commands of the Most 
High. 

As early as February 10th, the weather having 
been favorable, it was stated that as many as one 
thousand persons, including most of the Twelve, 
and many of the other dignitaries of the church, 
had crossed into Iowa, and were on their way west- 
ward. As spring advanced, they were still leaving 
in large numbers ; though the advance had not 
reached beyond Keosauqua, on the Des Moines 
river, some sixty miles away i from which point 
they kept up a constant intercourse with the city. 
The adherents of Rigdon, Strang, and Patriarch 



344 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

William Smith remained behind, agreeing in their 
denunciations of the Twelve, and in censure of the 
western movement. 

In April, 1846, Major Warren had orders from 
Governor Ford to disband, and withdraw his force 
on the first of May. He and his faithful volunteers 
had their headquarters at Carthage all winter, and 
had performed many arduous and delicate duties in 
preservation of the peace, arresting offenders, and 
executing writs. Their aid had been invoked on 
all sides, in all parts of the county ; and they had 
been employed on numerous occasions in Nauvoo 
in the execution of process. They had been braved 
and threatened and insulted, even to violent resist- 
ance in that city ; but they on all occasions exhib- 
ited a prudence, firmness, and judgment which 
entitled them to the regard of all good citizens. 

The contemplated withdrawal of the guard, to- 
gether with indications at Nauvoo, gave general 
uneasiness to the people. It began to be feared 
that many of the Mormons were not intending to 
leave ; but to quietly remain, in the hope and ex- 
pectation that in time all danger would be over. 
Public meetings began to be held in Hancock and 
other counties, at which these apprehensions were 
expressed and reference made to the action of the 
nine counties in October. These demonstrations 
brought a letter of inquiry from Mr. Babbitt, the 



THE EXODUS BEGUN, 345 

Mormon agent, to Governor Ford. In his reply 
the Governor denied that either he or the State 
had been a party to the compact that the Mormons 
should leave in the spring. Yet he also plainly 
intimated that they were bound to go, and that he 
would be powerless to prevent their expulsion. 
«*I tell you plainly," said his excellency, "that 
the people of Illinois will not fight for the Mor- 
mons." 

On the day following Major Warren's disband- 
ment of his force at Carthage, he received an order 
from the Governor to retain them in service until 
further orders. They were again mustered in and 
remained on duty, making their headquarters chiefly 
at the Mansion House in Xauvoo. On May 14th, 
the Major sent a dispatch to the Warsaw Signal, 
stating that the Mormons were leaving with all 
possible speed ; that the ferry was crossing as fast 
as possible ; that on an estimate, four hundred and 
fifty teams and thirteen hundred and fifty souls had 
gone within the week ; that new settlers were taking 
their places, etc. Information was also received, 
he said, from La Harpe, Macedonia, and other 
points, that they were fast leaving those points. 
On the 22d he reported : 

' ' The Mormons still continue to leave the city 
in large numbers. The ferry at this place averages 
about fifty-two teams per day, and at Fort Madison 



346 TRE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

forty-five. Thus it will be seen that five hundred 
and thirty-nine teams have left during the week, 
which average about three persons to each, making 
in all one thousand six hundred and seventeen 
souls." 

A week later the reported estimate was about 
eight hundred teams. 

After the Twelve and principal leaders had left, 
and were encamped in the vicinity of Keosauqua, 
O. P. Rockwell was employed by them as messen- 
ger between the camp and the city, in which ca- 
pacity he became very violent and abusive in his 
conduct ; so much so, that they began to fear he 
would bring trouble upon them. On May 1st, a 
writ was issued for his arrest, on the affidavit of a 
Dr. Watson, charging him with the murder of 
Lieutenant Worrell, the preceding autumn. The 
writ was placed in the hands of some of Major 
Warren's men, who arrested him, surrounded by 
fifteen shooters and other implements of defence. 
He waived examination, and was sent to Quincy 
to jail. At the May term of court, a true bill 
was found against him by the grand jury and he 
was sent to Galena for trial, having obtained a 
change of venue from this circuit. He was ac- 
quitted. 

Warlike demonstrations still continuing, on May 
11th Major Warren issued a proclamation, in which 
he warned the Anti-Mormons to desist ; assuring 



THE EXODUS BEGUN. 347 

them, that in his opinion, the Mormons were making 
all reasonable efforts to leave the county. Notwith- 
standing this assurance, a public meeting was held 
at Carthage, at which the opinion was expressed 
that large numbers of them designed to remain ; 
and recommending that the citizens of the surround- 
ing counties should forthwith prepare to put in 
force the resolutions of October last. Accordingly, 
a considerable force was assembled at Carthage and 
thence marched to Golden' s Point, where they held 
a conference with a deputation of the new citizens 
of Nauvoo, who had been invited to meet them 
there. The latter objecting to their entrance into 
the city, and the force being weak and poorly 
officered and drilled, it was decided to retire again 
to Carthage, where it was soon afterwards dis- 
banded. 

The peace was of short duration. About the 
10th of July, some difficulties occurred in the north 
part of the county, east of the city ; arrests were 
made on one side and then on the other, until some 
ten or fifteen of the old citizens were held in cus- 
tody in the city, and a number of Mormons (among 
whom was Brigham Young) held in durance outside 
as hostages. Such was the condition for over a 
week. For fear of an attack and rescue, the host- 
ages were kept closely hidden, and were several 
times removed from place to place under cover of 



348 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

night, but subjected to no personal violence. At 
length a writ of habeas corjpus was obtained in 
Adams County, served on the officers at Nauvoo, 
and they and their prisoners taken to Quincy , where 
the prisoners were released on bail. The Mormon 
hostages were then set at liberty. 

The new citizens at Nauvoo were generally an 
orderly and well-disposed people, but they had 
among them a few ruffianly and turbulent spirits, 
who, by their prominence and intemperate conduct, 
contributed to the disorder. Of these were three 
men. Dr. Pickett and Messrs. Clifford and Furness, 
who had arrested and detained the prisoners above 
mentioned. During the first week in August, these 
three were charged with false imprisonment and 
robbery, and writs issued for their arrest by John 
Banks, Esq., of Rocky Run township. The writs 
were placed in the hands of John Carlin, of Car- 
thage, a deputy sheriff. On the 7th, he went to 
Nauvoo, and arrested Clifford and Furness, but was 
resisted and defied by Pickett. On the 17th, he 
issued a proclamation calling on t\iQ posse comitatiis 
to assemble at the county seat on Monday, the 
24th, to aid in Pickett's arrest. A meeting had 
been held in Nauvoo on the 12th, at which it had 
been resolved that Carlin's writ should not be 
executed ; it also took measures to organize for 
military resistance. 



THE EXODUS BEGUN. 349 

On the 21st, Governor Ford, at Springfield, sent 

an order to Major James R. Parker, of the 3 2d 

regiment of Illinois militia, saying : 

" Sir: I* have received information that another 
efib rt is to be made on Monday next, to drive out 
the inhabitants of Nauvoo, new and old, and to 
destroy the city.'^ 

And Major Parker was authorized to call out and 
take command of such persons as would volunteer, 
** free of cost to the State," to repel any attack 
and defend the city. He was also authorized 
to assist any peace officer in making arrests. This 
order of the Governor placed Parker and Carlin 
in direct antagonism. Carlin's proclamation was 
dated on the 17th; on the 25th, Parker, having 
appeared in the county with a small force, issued a 
counter-proclamation, calling on all bodies of armed 
men in the county to disperse, and stating that he 
held himself in readiness * * to aid any officer in any 
part of the county in executing any lawful writs in 
his hands." Carlin replied by letter, that he was a 
legally constituted officer with writs in his hands 
to execute — that he had been resisted, and had 
called out the posse to aid him — that he did not 
acknowledge the authority of the military to inter- 
fere — that a large force was collecting, and he 
should proceed. To this Parker rejoined that he 
was sent by the Governor of the State — that the 
force under Carlin was a mob, whose aim was to 



350 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYSA, 

set the Mormons over the river, and he must so 
treat them. This brought still another from Car- 
lin, who simply reiterated his former statements. 
Thereupon the gallant Major fell back on procla- 
mations. On the 28th he issued a third, and on 
the 3d of September a fourth, warning " the mob '' 
to desist. 

During this war of proclamations, a force in aid 
of Carlin was concentrating at Carthage, of men 
from Hancock and several adjoining counties. This 
force, numbering from six hundred to eight hun- 
dred men, was placed under command of Colonel 
James W. Singleton, of Brown County, and con- 
sisted of two regiments — Colonel Thomas Brock- 
man, of Brown, in command of the first, and the 
second commanded by Colonel Thomas Geddes, of 
Hancock. It was encamped five miles northwest 
of Carthage, on the Xauvoo road. Here secret 
negotiations began for a compromise, between the 
commander and the Mormons, and were concluded ; 
but, on being submitted to his command, were 
unanimously rejected by his officers and men, amid 
much excitement. The conditions of this agree- 
ment were, in short — That the Mormon population 
of Nauvoo shall all leave within sixty days ; that 
a force of twenty-five men shall be left as a guard, 
the expense to be equally borne by both partJe* ; 
that an attorney be selected to take charge of all 



THE EXODUS BEGUN, 351 

writs ; that the Mormons shall deliver up the State 
arms yet in their possession ; and that all hostilities 
shall at once cease. 

At this remote period, it would seem that these 
conditions were hard enough on the Mormons, and 
that their antagonists were unnecessarily severe in 
rejecting them. The reasons given for their rejection 
were mainly that no confidence could be placed in 
the Mormon professions of sincerity about removal, 
and that no provision was made for the execution 
of the writs in Carlin's hands. On the rejection of 
his treaty. Colonel Singleton withdrew from the 
command. Carlin thereupon appointed Colonel 
Brockman to the command, who immediately gave 
orders to advance toward the city, and on the 10th 
the whole force, numbering about seven hundred 
men, marched toward Nauvoo, and encamped about 
three miles from the Temple. Here a committee 
of Quincy gentlemen, consisting of Hon. John 
Wood, Major Flood, and Joel Eice, Esq., ap- 
peared and proposed a compromise. Terms were 
named to them, and by them taken to the city ; 
but no answer was received. The posse was then 
put in motion toward the city, and for two days 
considerable skirmishing was carried on between 
the respective picket guards, and some firing oi 
artillery — of which both forces had a few small 
pieces. On the 12th, a flag of truce was sent in by 



352 THE PBOFHET OF PALMYBA, 

Colonels Brockman and Carlin, demanding a sur- 
render. It was replied to by Major Benjamin 
Cliiford (Major Parker having left), refusing to 
comply. 



BATTLE, A TBEATY-THE END. 353 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

A BATTLE, A TREATY, AND THE END. 

Warsaw Signal's Report of the Battle— Quincy Com^ht- 
TEE OF One Hundred — A Truce — The City Surrenders 
— The Treaty — The Killed .ind Wounded — More 
Trouble and More Troops— Reflections. 

Preparations to give battle were, therefore, 
immediately made. As this was the only real 
military engagement of the war, we deem a re- 
port of it in full, as given in the Warsaw Signal 
of October 13th, worthy of a place in these 
pages : 

THE battle. 

'* After the reception of this letter (Clifford's), 
the army was drawn up in column on a piece of 
high ground lying between the camp and the city. 
While in this position, a few shots were fired from 
a breastwork the Mormons had erected during the 
night, and the fire was returned from our artillery. 
So soon as all was ready, the Warsaw Eiflemen 
were divided into two sections, and deployed on 
the right and left as flankers. Captain Newton's 
Lima Guards, with Captain Walker's gun, was 
ordered to take position a quarter of a mile m front 
of the camp, and employ the attention of the Mor- 
mons at their breastwork, — and from which they 
kept a constant fire, while the main body of the 
army wheeled to the left, passed down across the 



3*4 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

La Harpe road through a cornfield, thence across 
Mulholland street, thence bore to the right through 
an orchard, and on to the city. So soon as the 
army was fairly under way. Captain Newton's com- 
pany, and the piece of artillery with it, were 
brought up in the rear. This march was made 
directly across and in face of the enemy's fire, and 
within good cannon range, yet not a man was in- 
jured. 

"Arriving on the verge of the city, the army, all 
except the artillery and flankers, was halted, while 
the latter advanced and commenced an attack on 
the Mormon works, from which they had been firing 
during the whole time of the march. A hot fire 
was kept up by the artillery from both sides for 
fifteen or twenty minutes. During this time, the 
Mormons did no execution on our ranks, while the 
balls from our cannon rattled most terrifically 
through the houses in the city.* 

* ' At length a fire of small arms was heard from 
some Mormons who had taken position on the ex- 
treme left in a cornfield. Immediately, Colonel 
Smith's regiment was ordered up and drove the 
assailants before them. The second regiment 
was in the mean time ordered up to the support 
of the artillery. By this time the action became 
general. 

" The Mormons were in squads in their houses, 
and poured in their shots with the greatest rapidity. 
Our men were also divided off into squads, took 
shelter where they could best find it, and returned 
the fire with great energy. The greater part of the 
first regiment had no better shelter than a cornfield 
and a worm fence ; the second regiment was open 
ground, having but two or three small houses to 

* This picture must have been considerably overdrawn ; as it 
was subsequently ascertained that comparatively few houses 
had been injured. 



A BATTLE, A TBEATY—THE END. 355 

cover the whole body ; while our artillery was 
entirely exposed. 

The firing of small arms was continued for half 
an hour, during which time our men steadily ad- 
vanced, driving the enemy, in man}^ instances, from 
their shelter. For a short time their fire was almost 
entirely silenced ; but, unfortunately, at this junc- 
ture our cannon balls were exhausted ; and our 
commander, deeming it imprudent to risk a further 
advance without these necessary instruments, or- 
dered the men to be drawn off. This was done in 
good order, and in slow time the whole force returned 
to the camp. 

In this action we had about five hundred men en- 
gaged, and four pieces of artillery ; two hundred men 
and one piece of artiller}^ having been left at the camp 
for its protection. Our loss in this engagement, 
as well as the subsequent skirmishes, will be found 
in the report of the surgeons hereto appended. 
Most of our men throughout the action displayed 
remarkable coolness and determination, and, we have 
no doubt, did great execution. We believe if our 
cannon balls had held out ten minutes longer, we 
should have taken the city ; but when the action 
commenced, we had but sixty-one balls. The battle 
lasted from the time the first feint was made until 
our men were drawn ofl^ — an hour and a quarter. 
Probably there is not on record an instance of a 
longer-continued militia fight . ( ! ) 

The Mormons stood their ground manfully ; but 
from the little execution done by them, we infer 
that they were not very cool or deliberate. Their 
loss is uncertain, as they have taken especial pains 
to conceal the number of their dead and wounded. 
They acknowledged but three dead and ten wounded. 
Among the killed is their master spirit. Captain 
Anderson, of the fifteen-shooter rifle company. Their 
force in the fight was from three to four hundred. 



356 THE PROPHET OF PAL3IYBA. 

They had all the advantages, having selected then- 
own positions ; and we were obliged to take such 
as we could get. Sometimes our men could get no 
cover, and the artillery was all the time exposed, 
while theirs was under cover. 

'* On Saturday, after the battle, the Anties com- 
menced intrenching their camp, and on Sunday 
made it secure against the shots of the enemy's 
cannon, which frequently reached or passed over it. 
On Sunday, the Anties cut part of the corn from 
the field, on the left of the La Harpe road, to pre- 
vent the Mormons from taking cover in it. While 
thus engaged, the Mormons fired on the guard 
which was protecting the corn-cutters. The fire 
was returned by the guard, and kept up at long 
distance for two or three hours. In this skirmish 
one of our men was badly wounded. The loss of the 
enemy is not known. On Monday, a party of 
Mormons crept up through the weeds to a piece of 
high ground, and fired at our camp, wounding three 
men, none seriously. Their balls were nearly 
spent when they struck. On Sunday morning, after 
the battle, a powder plot was dug up on the 
La Harpe road, which the army was expected to 
pass. On Wednesday, another was dug up on the 
same road nearer the city. Several of these plots 
were discovered near the Temple, and in other parts 
of the city." 

The surgeons of Colonel Brockman's force re- 
ported twelve men wounded, as the result of the 
conflict, among whom was Captain Smith, of the 
Carthage Greys, in command of the First Eegiment. 
One of the wounded died ten hours after the fight. 
It is believed that all the rest recovered. Of the 



A BATTLE, A TREATY— THE END. 357 

loss on the other side, no certain account was ever 
obtained.* 

The fighting was over and the war was at an 
end. On Tuesday morning, the 15th, while Colonel 
Brockman and his force were still in camp, a depu- 
tation from one hundred citizens of Quincy arrived 
with proposals for mediation. A similar deputation 
from the same source was sent into Nauvoo to con- 
fer with Major Clifford, the commander there. A 
truce was agreed on, and after a long and volumi- 
nous correspondence, a treaty — a final one — was 
concluded, which we can state best in its own 
words : 

*' 1. The City of Nauvoo Will Sureender. 
The force of Colonel Brockman to enter and take 
possession of the city to-morrow, the 17th of Sep- 
tember, at 3 o'clock p. M. 

<* 2. The arms to be delivered to the Quincy 
Committee, to be returned on the crossing of the 
river. 

**3. The Quincy Committee pledge themselves 
to use their influence for the protection of persons 
and property from all violence ; and the officers of 

* The following are the names of the wounded on the part of 
the Anti-Mormons, in the battle on Saturday : 

Humphreys, of Fountain Green, died twelve hours after the 
battle. 

Thompson, of same place, wounded in arm. 

Colonel Smith, of Carthage, in the throat. 

Mr. Welch, of McDonough County,in the leg. 

George Weir, of Warsaw, in the neck. 

Mr. Kennedy, of Augusta, shoulder. 

Mr. Rogers, of Ursa, Adams County. 

In the skirmish on Sunday, Mr. Winsor (an attorney of 
Nauvoo) was wounded badly. In the camp, on Monday, Dr. 
Geiger, of Nauvoo, Mr. Crooks, of Chili, and Mr. Stimson, of 
Brown County. Three of the above were merely scratched. 



358 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

the camp and the men pledge themselves to protect 
all persons and property from violence. 

''4. The sick and helpless to be protected and 
treated with humanity. 

*« 5. The Mormon population of the city to leave 
the State, or disperse, as soon as they can cross the 
river. 

«' 6. Five men, including the Trustees of the 
Church, and five Clerks, with their families (Wil- 
liam Pickett not one of the number) to be permitted 
to remain in the city for the disposition of property, 
free from all molestation and personal violence. 

"7. Hostilities to cease immediately, and ten 
men of the Quincy Committee to enter the city in 
the execution of their duty, as soon as they think 
proper. 

"We, the undersigned, subscribe to, ratify and 
confirm, the foregoing Articles of Accommodation, 
Treaty, and Agreement, the day and year first 
above written. 

" Signed by, 

" Almon W. Babbitt, 
Joseph L. Heywood, 
John S. FuLLiMER, 

Trustees in Trust for the Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 
Andeew Johnson, 

Chairman of Committee of Quincy, 
Thomas S. Beockihan, 

Commander Posse. 
John Carlin, 

Special Constable J^ 

At this remote period, it is hard to discover the 
necessity for this expedition and consequent loss of 
life and property, even on the ground for which it 
was professedly undertaken. Major Warren had 



A BATTLE, A TBEATY—THE END. 359 

repeatedly repoi-ted from Nauvoo that the Mormons 
Avere leaving in great numbers, and apparently as 
fast as they were able, and that most of the leaders 
had gone. That it was for arresting Pickett was 
probably its original purpose only ; but that this 
purpose was lost sight of before the close, is proven 
by the fact that no provision was made for his arrest 
in the treaty, and no mention made of him except 
to exclude him from remaining in the city. That 
this should have been so is a curious fact, in view 
of the sharp correspondence between Major Parker 
and the officer holding the writ. The best excuse 
for the raid that can be given, perhaps, is, that it 
was known that the followers of Eigdon and Wil- 
liam Smith were opposing the westward movement, 
and were suspected of an intention to remain. Some 
of the adherents of the Twelve may have had a 
similar purpose, but of this we have no proof. 

Soon after the agreement was signed and ex- 
changed. Major Clifford gave orders for the with- 
drawal of the force under his command. By three 
o'clock p. M. the next day, the 17th, nearly the 
whole of the Mormon population had crossed the 
Mississippi into Iowa. This unexpected haste was, 
doubtless, due to the fear entertained that if found 
in the city on the arrival of the foe, they would be 
subjected to insult and violence. 

At three o'clock, Brockman's force was put in 



360 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA, 

motion, marched through the city, and encamped 
near the south end. On Friday the whole force, 
with the exception of one hundred men, was dis- 
banded and sent home. The new citizens organized 
a company of one hundred, and the two combined 
acted as guard to the city. 

But the troubles were not yet over. The force 
left as guard, not satisfied with the withdrawal of 
the Mormons, dealt pretty roughly with some of the 
most obnoxious new citizens, even to driving them 
from the city. These made appeal to the Governor 
for protection. That functionary sent Major Bray- 
man from Springfield to investigate and report. 
His representations were such that the Governor 
again decided to send a force into the county. He 
recruited about one hundred men, with which he 
entered the county on the 28th of October and 
remained till the 14th of November, when he re- 
turned to Springfield, leaving part of his^o^se under 
command of Major Weber. These forces remained 
in the county inactive until Governor French, 
elected to succeed Governor Ford, withdrew them 
on the 12th of December and addressed a short 
note to the people of the county, exhorting to peace 
and quietness. 

And now, in looking back upon the eight years 
during which that infatuated people resided in the 
State of Illinois, and after more than forty years 



A BATTLE, A TBEATY-THE END. 361 

since they took their departure into the wilderness, 
and men's angry passions have had time to subside, 
it is easy to see that they were not the only evil- 
doers ; that much wrong was done, not alone by 
them, but by those who opposed them. 

Mormonism has been progressive from the days 
of its inception. Originating in evil, it has, 
through the lifetime of its prophet and more daring 
successor, continued to add evil cfogmas to its 
creed, until it has become a monster in Utah. It 
has long since ceased to be a mere county or State 
question. Ever since the death of the prophet, and 
that later day when his followers set their bleeding 
feet on the arid plains of Utah, it has become one 
of national importance, no longer to be dealt with 
by a '' mob " or by " border ruffians," but by the 
national judgment. Let us pray heaven that the 
Nation may be successful in bringing it to a just 
and proper solution ! 

How rapid and remarkable is the growth of 
evil ! Fifty years ago, among the fertile vales of 
Western New York, the absurd and ridiculous pre- 
tence of a Divine Mission, was made by an igno- 
rant and obscure young man — made at the outset, 
with no othei view than to gull the credulous. 
From this silly claim, as a root, has grown this 
Upas-like tree, spreading its branches far and 
wide and sendins^ its malarial influence throusfh- 



362 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

out the world. Ignorance, Superstition, Fanati- 
cism — men's evil passions and propensities — have 
been the food which has fed it to its present 
dangerous proportions. What will check or de- 
stroy it ? 



BXODTJS, DESEBT, AND WILI)EB:^ESS. 363 



CHAPTER XXXYII. 

THE EXODUS, THE DESERT, AND WILDERNESS. 

Brigham's Evil Choice— Ex Eoute "Westward— Kanes- 
viLLE — " Winter Quarters " — Coloxel Kaxe's Descrip- 
tion — Missouri Eepublican Correspondent — The 
Mormon Battalion — Brigham Assu:mes Supreme 
Power — Pushes on to Salt Lake and Returns — Main 
Body Reaches the Valley — Stake Planted — The 
" State of Deseret." 

Then was Brigham Young's grand opportunity 
for good. Had he, when forced to leave Kauvoo 
with his followers, been honest and magnan- 
imous enough to have said to them : * ' Go your 
ways, brethren ; disperse among the people, where- 
ever you can find homes for your families ; lead 
honest lives ; obey the laws. Carry with jou all 
your veneration for the new Gospel and preach it 
to the world — God wills it 1 " — he would have shown 
himself worthy to lead. Such was their faith in him 
that he would have been obeyed. Instead, he chose 
to have them follow him into an unknown wilder- 
ness ; poor, sick, and distressed ; famished and 
hungry; through rain and storm and trackless 
snows ; over mountains and sandy desert plains — 
all for what ? That he and a few chosen associates 
might lead pampered lives. No higher motive 



364 THE FSOPHJET OF PALMTBA. 

governed him. On the part of the many it was a 
sublime heroism ; for the few there is no apology ; 
it was infamy. 

In a previous chapter, the beginnings of this un- 
precedented journey have been recorded. In Jan- 
uary, 1846, a council of the chiefs was held in the 
city, at which it was decided to start out toward 
the setting sun, but with no objective point fully 
determined on. Oregon and California were known 
to exist on the peaceful shores of the broad Pacific ; 
but all that intermediate region included now in 
the States of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and 
Nevada, and the half-dozen territories beyond, was 
one vast fen^a incognita. So]MEWHeee, in this un- 
known region they would find resting-places — or 
graves. Alas ! many of them found the latter, 
scattered far thicker than milestones along the 
dreary route. 

A pioneer band was early sent forward. It was 
pro^dded with means for opening roads, preparing 
shelter, and planting crops for those who were to 
follow. During the summer and faU (1846) the 
main body, numbering several thousand souls, had 
reached the [Missouri river, across the then territory 
01 Iowa, and almost due west from Nauvoo. A 
portion of them located on the east side of the river, 
and the colony there planted was called Kanesville 
— ^no w the little city of Council Bluffs . A still larger 



JSXOnUS, DESEBT, AND WILDERNESS. 365 

body crossed the Missouri and established ' * winter 
quarters," and other settlements in the vicinity of 
what is now the city of Omaha, in the State of 
Nebraska. Kanesville was named in honor of 
Colonel Thomas L. Kane, of Philadelphia, a brother 
to the renowned Arctic explorer ; a gentleman who 
took great interest jn behalf of these suffering people. 
He afterwards delivered lectures in the East on this 
Mormon exodus, and before the Historical Society of 
Philadelphia, which — although some of his facts are 
much distorted and exaggerated — in glowing and elo- 
quent terms depicted the sufferings of the fugitives. 
Portions of it are reproduced here. That lecture 
ought to be read and studied by every body of 
people who contemplate the banishment of whole 
communities, as i punishment for the crimes of their 
leaders. His visi' to Nauvoo just after the sur- 
render, is thus desc 'ibed in part : 

«« . . . It was a natural impulse to visit 
this inviting region. I procured a skiff [at Mont- 
rose opposite] and rowing across the river, landed 
at the chief wharf of the city. No one met me 
there. I looked, and saw no one. I could hear no 
one move ; though the quiet everywhere was such 
that I heard the flies buzz, and the water-ripples 
break against the shallow of the beach. I walked 
through the solitary streets. The town lay as in a 
dream, under some deadening spell of loneliness, 
from which I almost feared to wake it ; for plainly 
it had not slept long. There was no grass growing 
up in the paved ways ; the rains had not entirely 
washed away the prints of dusty footsteps. 



366 THB PBOTEET OF PALMYBA. 

**Yet I went about unchecked. I went into 
empty workshops, rope-walks and smithies. The 
spinner's wheel was idle ; the carpenter had gone 
from his work-bench and shavings, his unfinished 
sash and casings. Fresh bark was in the tanners 
vat, and the fresh-chopped light-wood stood piled 
against the baker's oven. The blacksmith's shop 
was cold; but his coal-heap and ladling pool, and 
crooked water-horn, were all there, as if he had just 
gone off for a holiday. No work-people an^^where 
looked to know my errand. If I went into the 
gardens, clinking the wicket-latch loudly after me, 
to pull the marigolds, heart's-ease and lady-slip- 
pers, and draw a drink from the water-sodden well- 
bucket and its noisy chain ; or, knocking off with 
my stick the tall, heavy-headed dahlias and sun- 
flowers ; hunted over the beds for cucumbers or 
love-apples, — no one called out to me from an open 
window, or dog sprang forward to bark an alarm. 
I could have supposed the people hid in their 
houses, but the doors were unfastened, and I had 
to tread tip-toe, as if walking down the aisle of a 
country church, to avoid rousing irreverent echoes 
from the naked floors. . . . 

* ' Only two portions of the city seemed to sug- 
gest the import of this mysterious solitude. On 
the southern suburb, the houses looking out upon 
the country showed by their splintered wood-work 
and walls battered to the foundation, that they had 
lately been the mark of a destructive cannonade. 
And in and .around the splendid Temple, which had 
been the chief object of my admiration, armed men 
were barracked, surrounded by their stacks of 
musketry and pieces of heavy ordnance. They 
challenged me to render an account of myself, and 
why I had the temerity to cross the water without 
a written permit from a leader of their band. 

* ' Though these men were generally more or lesa 



jEXODUS, desert, and wilderness 367 

under the influence of ardent spirits, after I had 
exphiined myself as a passing stranger, they seemed 
anxious to gain my good opinion. They told the 
story of the Dead City ; that it had been a notable 
manufacturing and commercial mart, sheltering over 
20,000 persons ;* that they had waged war with 
its inhabitants for several years, and had been 
finally successful only a few days before my visit, 
in an action fought in front of the ruined suburb ; 
after which they had driven them forth at the point 
of the sword, etc. 

'* They permitted me also to ascend into the 
steeple [of the Temple] to see where it had been 
lightning-struck on the Sabbath before, | and to 
look out east and south on wasted farms, like those 
I had seen near the city, extending till they were 
lost in the distance. Here, in the face of the pure 
day, close to the scar of the Divine wrath left by 
the thunderbolt, were fragments of food, cruses of 
liquor, and broken drinking vessels, with a brass 
drum and a steamboat signal bell, of which I after- 
wards learned the use with pain. 

* * It was after night-fall when I was ready to cross 
the river on my return. The wind had freshened 
since the sunset, and the water beating roughly 
into my little boat, I hedged higher up the stream 
than the point I had left in the morning, and 
landed where a faint glimmering light invited me 
to steer. 

"Here among the dock and rushes, sheltered 
only by the darkness, without roof between them 
and the sky, I came upon a crowd of several hun- 

* If they told him this they greatly exaggerated. The city of 
Nauvoo never contained a resident population of much over 
half that number, 

t A fact ; the Temple was struck by lightning in a storm on 
a Sunday while in possession of the rioters ; but little damage 
done. 



368 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

dred human creatures, whom my movements moved 
from uneasy slumber upon the ground. 

«' Passing these on my way to the light, I found 
it came from a tallow candle in a paper funnel 
shade, such as is used by street venders of apples 
and pea-nuts, and which, flaming and guttering 
away in the bleak air off the water, shone flicker- 
ingly on the emaciated features of a man in the last 
stages of a bilious remittent fever. They had 
done their best for him. Over his head was some- 
thing like a tent, made of a sheet or two, and he 
rested on a but partially ripped open old straw mat- 
tress, with a hair sofa-cushion for a pillow. His 
gaping jaw and glazing eye told how short a time 
he would monopolize these luxuries ; though a 
seemingly bewildered and excited person, who 
might have been his wife, seemed to find hope in 
occasionally forcing him to swallow awkwardly sips 
of the tepid river water, from a burned and battered 
bitter-smelling tin coffee-pot. Those who knew 
better, had furnished the apothecary he needed — a 
toothless old bald head, whose manner had the 
repulsive dulness of a man familiar with death 
scenes. He, so long as I remained, mumbled in 
his patient's ear a monotonous and melancholy 
prayer, between the pauses of which I heard the 
hiccup, and the sobbing of two little girls who were 
sitting upon a piece of drift-wood outside. 

*' Dreadful, indeed, was the suffering of these 
forsaken beings ; bowed and cramped by cold and 
sunburn, as each dreary day and night dragged on, 
they were, almost all of them, the crippled victims 
of disease. They were there because they had no 
homes, nor hospital, nor poor-house to offer them 
any. They could not satisfy the cravings of their 
sick ; they had not bread to quiet the fractious 
hunger-cries of their children. Mothers and babes, 
daughters and grand-parents alike, were bivouacked 



EXODUS, DESEBT, AND WILDERNESS. 369 

in tatters, wanting even covering to comfort those 
whom the sick shiver of fever was searching to the 
marrow. 

<* These were Mormons in Lee County, Iowa, 
in the fourth week of the month of September, in 
the year of Our Lord, 1846. The city — it was 
Nauvoo, Illinois. The Mormons were the owners 
of that city, and the smiling country around. And 
those w^ho had stopped their plows ; who had si- 
lenced their hammers, their axes, their shuttles, and 
their work-shop wheels ; those w^ho had put out 
their fires, who had eaten their food, spoiled their 
orchards, and trampled under foot their thousands 
of acres of unharvested bread, — these were the keep- 
ers of their dwellings, the carousers in their Tem- 
ple, and whose drunken riot insulted the ears of 
their dying. 

*< . . . They were, all told, not more than 
six hundred and forty persons who were thus lying 
on the river flats. But the Mormons in Xauvoo 
and its dependencies had been numbered the year 
before at over twenty thousand. Where were 
they? They had last been seen, carrying in mourn- 
ful train, their sick and wounded, halt and blind, 
to disappear behind the western horizon, pursuing 
the phantom of another home." 

Another account of the appearance of the city, is 
thus given by a correspondent of the Missouri Re- 
publican : 

A Week in Nauvoo — View from the Temple — 
Desolate Appearance or the City — ^Prog- 
ress OF Events, Etc., Etc. 

Warsaw, Illinois, Sept, 29tJi, 1846. 
«* Since my last letter I have spent a week in 
Nauvoo, and can attest the truth of the remarks of 



370 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

another of your correspondents, in regard to the 
desolate appearance of the city. 

<< I arrived there on Monday evening of last week. 
On Tuesday morning I took a stroll through a por- 
tion of the now deserted streets, and for miles, I 
may safely say, I passed nothing but tenantless 
houses ; some of them closed and barred, and others 
with doors wide open, as if left in haste. All along 
the city, for miles, wherever I went, might be seen 
on the doors, or on the walls, some notice that the 
tenement was for sale, or for rent. Every thing 
indicates that Mormonism is for ever extinct in 
Illinois. As a people they are completely subdued. 
Not one, in my opinion, will ever try to regain a 
foothold in Hancock. They are selling their little 
property at very low rates, indeed, almost giving 
it away — for the sake of raising means to take them 
away. Horses, cows, oxen, and wagons, are in 
great demand. Many design to join the expedition, 
which has gone in advance, to the wilderness of the 
Far West, while many others have already left for 
points up and down the river. 

'' There are many instances of individual distress 
and suffering, and how could it be otherwise in a 
case like this? Many, doubtless, have left the city 
with nothing to live upon a day in advance. Many 
have crossed the river, who were entirely destitute 
of the means of sustaining their families before, and 
who now have added to their former miseries the 
want of a house to live in, or a roof to shelter them 
from the ' peltings of the pitiless storm.' Many 
have nothinof left them in the wide world but the 
little hut which they tenanted in the city, and the 
small patch of ground upon which it stands, and for 
which, probably, they will not be able to realize 
the sum of twenty dollars. I was present myself 
at the sale of two lots of ground, with a log house 
and a few fruit trees on each, for one of which the 



EXODUS, DESERT, AND WILDEIiNESS. 371 

purchaser paid a horse, and for the other a cow, 
and the holders seemed giad to get away with so 
much. Low as this, doubtless, seemed to them, 
who had probably paid $200 or $300 each ; yet the 
purchaser had better kept his horse and cow. If 
all the lots in Nauvoo could be bought at the same 
rate, I would consider them dearly paid for. 

*' During my stay I took several ocasions to 
look at the city and surrounding country from the 
top of the Temple. It is, indeed, a grand and im- 
posing scene, and presents the most magnificent 
view to be found any where on the banks of the 
Mississippi. There is but one point on the river 
that exceeds it in beauty, in my opinion, and that 
is Rock Island. Ten years ago, when all that pait 
of the city which lies east of the Temple was cov- 
ered with forest trees, and little patches of oak and 
other timber dotted the flat part of the city nearest 
the river bank, and the little town of Commerce, 
with its five or six houses huddled together on the 
bank, it presented a very difierent aspect from what 
it does at present. Then it presented nature in all 
her loveliness : the placid and broad current of the 
Mississippi, its islands and sand bars — the far- 
reaching prairies of Iowa — the bold blufi" which 
runs in semi-circular form around the town of Mont- 
rose (then Fort Des Moines) , with here and there 
a wreath of ascending smoke, to tell the habitation 
of some settler — ^that is the picture it presented ten 
or twelve years ago. But now how changed is the 
scene ! What a mutation it has undergone ! And 
yet, it is now a thousand times more desolate. The 
only thing I noticed which had undergone no change 
since I was familiar with it in 1836 and '7, was 
Cutler's Grave. It was enclosed Avith a stonewall, 
and stood about half a mile from the river near the 
road which descended the hill from where the Tem- 
ple now stands — aud there it is yet, standing in the 



S72 THE PEOPRET OF PALMYBA. 

midst of all this desolation, looking the same as 
it did ere the hand of man had wrought all this 
change around it. George Y. Cutler was one of 
the earliest settlers in Hancock County, and one of 
its first county commissioners — dying, he was buried 
at this spot. 

< ' I took occasion to ascertain as near as possible 
the number of houses in the city. From my posi- 
tion on the Temple, I could count a large portion of 
the city ; and from actual count, and estimate based 
upon count, I think there are at least two thousand 
houses in the city proper, and in the suburbs five 
hundred more — making in all two thousand five 
hundred houses. About one-half of these are mere 
shanties, built some of logs, some of poles plas- 
tered over, and some framed. Of the remaining 
portion — say twelve hundred houses — all are tol- 
erably fit residences, and one-half are good brick 
or frame houses. There are probably five hun- 
dred brick houses in the city, most of which are 
good buildings, and some are elegant and hand- 
somely finished residences, such as would adorn 
any city. 

•' Of these two thousand five hundred houses, I 
think about one-twelfth are tenanted — some by 
Mormons who have not yet got away, the remainder 
by Anti-Mormons, new or old settlers, who have 
been permitted to stay. 

*' Col. Geddes, of Fountain Green, in this county, 
was left in command of a small force, when the 
army was disbanded, and has been in command 
during the past week. He has now returned to 
his home, leaving twenty or thirty men at the Tem- 
ple, under command of Major McAuley and Mr. 
Brattle. A small force will probably remain in 
the city as long as the Mormons remain on the other 
side of the river. 

*' No event of importance has transpired during 



EXOJDITS, DESEBT, AND WILDERNESS. 373 

the week. A certain Dr. Oliver Dresser, who 
hails from Maine, and who was somewhat conspic- 
uous in the late difficulties, as a friend and com- 
panion of Pickett's, ventured over on Wednesday 
from the other side. He Avas taken into custody 
and kept in the Temple till morning, and then 
marched to the river in double quick time, between 
two files of men, where he took passage for Iowa. 
A few other scenes of similar character, to some of 
which the ceremony of dipping was added, is all 
that occurred during the week, of an exciting char- 
acter. 

'' Several cases of deep distress, mostly lone 
widows and orphans, came to my knowledge during 
my stay. In all qf these aid was freely given. One 
of these cases is a peculiar one. During the 
preparations previous to the fight, one of the horse- 
men of the city, while riding through the street, 
was thrown from his horse, and his gun discharged, 
the ball from which entered the body of a Mrs. 
Haywood, who was in the door at the time. The 
lady Avas badly wounded, but not killed ; and was 
unable to be removed from the city, at the time 
the posse entered. 

«' Her husband being a rabid Mormon, ran over 
the river, leaving her and a young child on this side, 
where she fell under the notice of the Anti-]Mor- 
mons. Provision was immediately made for her 
support — medical aid procured, and every care and 
attention bestowed which was in the power of the 
commander or his men. She is now doing well, 
and will, in a few days, be removed to some place 
in the interior until she will be able to go to her 
friends in Vermont — as she has decided not to 
follow her husband into the wilderness. What 
renders her case more pitiable is, that he has pos- 
session of her three children, all under ten years 
old, and is making use of them to induce her to 



374 THE FEOFHET OF FALMYFA 

alter her determination. She never "was a Mormons 
but in that confidence which woman only repose, 
in the object of her regard, she followed him to 
Nauvoo. Since that time, her confidence has been 
shaken, and she has now determined never to cross 
the Mississippi , to swell the tide of war which Mor- 
monism is destined to carry in its train. This acci- 
dent, which she doubtless regarded as a most un- 
fortunate one, I regard as one of the most fortunate 
circumstances of her life. It has been the means 
of separating an interesting woman from a brutal 
and fanatical husband who would else have dragged 
her into the far wilderness to sufier unutterable 
woes. 

'* Yours, etc., 

'* T. G." 

The enormity and folly of that last raid 
upon Nauvoo, and the unnecessary severity em- 
ployed in the treatment of the fugitives, has 
never been fully estimated by those engaged in or 
who sanctioned it. Heaven grant that hencefoi*th 
and forever, no county, or nine counties, or 
State, may adopt this method of dealing with its 
offenders ! 

The war against Mexico was about to begin. 
Our government proposed to make the conquest of 
California, then a Mexican province. While en- 
camped near the Missouri river, an agent of the 
government appeared at headquarters, with orders 
to enlist, if possible, a battalion of Mormon volun- 
teers for one year, to be employed in the service 
against California. They were accordingly enlisted. 



EXODUS, DESERT, AND WILDERNESS. 375 

armed, and equipped, and performed valuable service 
in that memorable campaign ; and at the end of their 
enlisted time, were honorably discharged on the 
Pacific Coast. Large instalments of pay were made 
in advance, which materially aided not onty the 
battalion, but their families on the journey. This 
enlistment of so many of their able-bodied men, of 
course increased the hardships and dangers to be 
encountered by those left behind. Although the 
purpose was one of pure sympathy on the part of 
the administration, intended to aid the refugees in 
reaching the other side of the continent — and was 
so understood and accepted by the Mormons them- 
selves — yet, in later years, Brigham Young has 
made it the occasion of great complaint, and by his 
misrepresentations created much of the disloyal 
feeling existing in Utah against the government of 
the United States. 

In January, 1847, Brigham Young, in the 
wilderness, issued a command to his followers, 
which he claimed to be a revelation from the 
Lord. It had reference mainly to the «« ways 
and means " to be employed in organizing com- 
panies, providing teams and supplies, and prepar- 
ing the way for the perilous expedition across the 
plains. 

The 6th of April, the day for the annual confer- 
ence, found most of the leaders at *< Winter Quar- 



376 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

ters." Soon after the conference, Brigliam started 
west at the head of a picked company ; and after a 
journey of three months and a half, on July 24th, 
came in sight of the Great Basin in which Salt Lake 
is situated. Its beauty, its grandeur, and its ap- 
parent fertility and advantages, and more than all, 
its isolation ft-om the rest of the world, decided him 
at once to make this the resting-place of his Saints ; 
to build in this valley, so invitingly spread out 
before them, a new Zion, a thousand miles away 
from civilization, where the heavy hand of oppres- 
sion could not reach them. 

They descended into the valley ; encampments 
were made, the city located, the soil upturned, and 
seed sown, and active preparation made for plant- 
ing a colony early the next season. This done, 
the most of them returned to the Missouri river, 
where their families and other large numbers had 
been left, which they reached about the 1st of No- 
vember. 

In the spring of 1848, a vital cliange was effected 
in the oro-anization of the church. Ic will be remem- 
bered that after the death of the prophet, and during 
the struggle for tiie succession at Nauvoo, in order 
to circumvent Rigdon and Patriarch ^Villiam Smith, 
it was decided that the office of President of the 
Church should be abolished, and that henceforward 
the Twelve should be the supreme authority. 



EXODUS, DESEIiT, AND WILDEBNESS. 377 

Young now aimed to usurp the whole power. He 
had, by his superior ability and energy, led them 
thus far into the desert in safety ; he had also led 
a pioneer band over the mountains, and shown them 
the beautiful Land of Promise they were about to 
occupy ; and he aspired to undivided authority. 
He cautiously felt his way among his associates of 
the quorum, and one by one gained them over. A 
majority of the Twelve gained, the people voted 
freely for the change ; and there in the wilder- 
ness of Nebraska, the order of government so 
solemnly established in the Temple at Nauvoo three 
years before, was reversed, and Brigham invested 
with the supreme power, in name as in fact. 
Here, too, the work of proselyting was renewed ; 
missionaries ordered to Europe, and instructions 
given them to collect as much of " tithing " and 
other material aid as possible, for the erection of 
a new Temple in the Great Salt Lake valley. And, 
as on former occasions, such was the enthusiasm 
among his poor, suffering, and shelterless follow- 
ers, that all wanted to go to the New Jeru- 
salem that was being prepared for them. All 
were willing to undertake the journey to that 
Promised Land, which so many of them were 
doomed to never reach ; to pursue a phantom 
which was leading them down into the Valley of 



378 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA 

the Shadow of Death, instead of the Zion of their 
hopes. 

By the end of the season, four or five thousand 
souls had entered the valley, and had industriously 
set at work to make themselves homes. 

When first occupied, the Salt Lake valley, as 
well as all the contiguous territory, belonged still 
to Mexico nominally ; but at the treaty of peace 
which soon followed, was ceded to the United 
States. Brigham Young aimed at independent em- 
pire ; aiid as the United States' authority was now 
to be extended over it, his next and best step 
toward independence he conceived to be the organ- 
ization of a State. So a convention was held on 
March 5, 1849, and the Constitution of the State 
of Deseret formed. It declared that " We, the 
people, grateful to the Supreme Being for the bless- 
ings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence 
on him for a continuation of those blessings, do 
ordain and establish a free and independent Gov- 
ernment by the name of the State of Deseret," 
etc., etc. Subsequently, Brigham Young was 
elected Governor of the State. Though this con- 
stitution was rejected by Congress, and the Terri- 
torial Government of Utah established, with Young 
for its Governor, — ^this ' ' State of Deseret " is to 
this day the great desideratum with the leaders in 
Salt Lake valley. They anxiously await the day 



EXODUS, DESEBT, AND WILDERNESS. 379 

when it can be re-established. That day should 
never be permitted to come to them, until it can 
bring another <*Wilmot Proviso" against the 
" twin relic of barbarism " harbored there. 



880 THE PBOPSET OF FALMYBA. 



CHAPTER XXXVm. 

THE MOKMON TEMPLES. 

The Kertland Temple— In Missouri — At Nauvoo — The 
Baptismal Font — Its Destruction by Fiee— Important 
Decision in Ohio. 

The Latter-Day Saints have ever been most in- 
dustrious temple-builders. Early in his career, the 
prophet imbibed the notion that a glorious Zion and 
a magnificent temple were necessary adjuncts to 
the system he was planning ; necessary as aids in 
making prosel3rtes, and as means for extracting 
money from his followers. In this his judgment 
was good. It is very doubtful, whether without 
these aids, he could have succeeded in gathering 
around him half the fanaticism, or half the zeal and 
enthusiasm that he did, in the fourteen years of his 
imposture. 

With only a handful of followers, numbering a 
few hundreds, the first temple at Kirtland was 
begun. It was the work of several years ; but was 
pushed forward as fast as the tenthly tithings of 
members would permit. It was said to have cost 
fifty thousand dollars, but was never entirely fin- 
ished. In March, 1836, it was suflSciently advanced 



THE MOBMON TEMPLES, 381 

to admit of dedication, which was performed under 
imposing ceremonies, and with many extravagant 
demonstrations of fanaticism. It was eighty feet 
in length and sixty wide, and about fifty in height 
to the eaves — giving two stories of twenty-two feet 
each, and an attic story under the roof, for school 
purposes — with a steeple and dome one hundred and 
ten feet high. 

But before its completion, the idea of a new Zion 
and a grander temple on the rich plains of Mis- 
souri was entertained. Just how many were sev- 
erally planned there, is not now remembered. The 
corner-stones of one or two were laid ; but no one, 
it is believed, ever grew beyond its foundations on 
the border land. 

The Nauvoo plan was on a greater and more 
magnificent scale than that of Kirtland. The 
* ' Kings of the earth " were commanded to con- 
tribute of their gold and silver and precious jewels 
to its aid ; and though no king is known to have 
contributed to its treasury, it is certain that many 
of the subjects of a young Queen (Victoria), did 
castin their pounds, shillings, and pence, and bestow 
the labor of their lusty right arms, toward its 
erection. 

The corner-stones of this temple were laid on 
April 6, 1841, five years after the dedication at 
Kirtland. Although designed for a religious cere- 



382 THE PBOPHET OF TALMTRA. 

monial, the military took precedence in the work. 
Lieutenant-General Smith, Major-General Bennett, 
Brigadier-Generals Law and Hyrum Smith, and all 
the other generals and aides-de-camp and com- 
manders, in their gorgeous uniforms, were out in 
full style. Sidney Rigdon delivered the oration ; 
after which President Smith laid the chief corner- 
stone, the south-east ; President Don C. Smith laid 
the south-west ; the High Council laid the north- 
west, and the Bishops laid the north-east, with due 
solemnities. 

At the date of the prophet's death, the Temple 
was well under way, but it was never finished.* 
At the departure of the Saints in 1846, it stood an 
imposing sight from the river and the opposite shore. 
All around its base were spread and piled the debris 
of stone and rubbish, left of materials used in its 
construction. 



* Joseph Smitli, the younger, says that the Temple \vas 
never finished, notwithstanding Young's declaration that 
" through the blessing of God, it was completed and accepted 
by Him." He says : " This statement is not ti'ue.*' And 
after enumerating numerous instances of incompleteness, he 
adds : " K the statements of various persons can be relied on, 
there can be but little doubt that, in one respect, there was a 
completion : and that respect is the desecration and defilement 
of the Temple, by the holding of such revels and orgies therein, 
as were not even thought of bv the ' money-changers." who 
made the House of God at Jerusalem a ' den of thieves,' and 
against which the righteous indignation of Jesus was so sig- 
nally directed." 

Similar charges of "revels" and "orgies" and " desecra- 
crations," he should remember, were made at the time of the 
" consecration" of the Temple at Kirtland, where the prophet 
himself was a chief actor. 




BAPTISMAL FONT 



THE MOBMON TEMPLES. 383 

Inside, in the basement, stood the twelve demure 
looking Stone Oxen, supporting the ponderous 
baptismal font; while from the belfry, one hun- 
dred and fifty feet above, was to be observed a 
magnificent panorama of miles in extent, embracing 
the sweeping crescent of the river, the islands, the 
bluffs, and the stretch of prairie beyond. Thus it 
stood for two years in its utter desolation. 

The Nauvoo Temple was large, but not so im- 
mense as has been represented. It was one hundred 
and twenty feet long by eighty in width, and about 
sixty feet high, surmounted by an imposing cupola 
and dome one hundred and fifty feet from the 
ground. It was built of a beautiful gray limestone, 
quarried from the river bluff just below the city. 
It was said to have cost a million and a quarter of 
dollars — doubtless an exaggeration. At the least, 
it was an alarming amount for a poor community 
to invest in one house of worship. And to that 
purpose it was ill-adapted. So, on leaving the city, 
its owners found it to be a very heavy weight on their 
hands. It was not suited for a church for any other 
denomination ; it was not convenient for a manu- 
factory ; and it was not well adapted to educational 
purposes. It was offered for sale ; and ^the low 
price put upon it of two hundred thousand dollars. 
Negotiations on the part of several parties were 
talked of; and, it is believed, that had it not been 



384 TBE PBOPHET OF PALMYHA, 

destroyed bv a vandal hand, it would in a short 
time have passed into possession of some educa- 
tional entei-jDi-ise. 

On the morning of October 10, 18-48. at alx)ut 
two o'clock, a fire was discovered in the highest 
section of the cupola. The alarm was given, and 
a large concourse of citizens gathered ; but all effort 
to save the building was unavailing. *' In an in- 
credibly short period the lofty spire was enveloped 
in flames, shooting upward to a most astonishing 
height, and illuminating a wide expanse of coun- 
try," says an eye-witness. In two hours, only the 
blackened and smoking walls remained of the build- 
inof on which so much toil and effort had been ex- 
pended, and so many hopes and aspirations cen- 
tered. A monument of folly and fanaticism and 
wickedness while it stood, its destruction was no 
less a work of infamous vandalism. 

The perpetrator of the deed is unknown. By 
the Mormons, and perhaps by the public gener- 
ally, the deed has been attributed to the Anti- 
Mormon party of the county. Without being able 
to say that some individual among them may not 
have been the guilty one, the writer knows that the 
act was generally condemned by them, in common 
with all other citizens. There was another theoiy 
advanced to account for its destniction, which is 
not without some reason. There was at that time 



fp^^lllii!,;; 




l^'l . ^J^. ' ^y 



THE MOBMOK TEMPLES. 385 

mucli dissension among the brotherhood ; two or 
three parties existed, all claiming to be the true 
church and the others as heretics, and they hated 
each other. Besides, they had all contributed of 
their toil and means for its erection ; and it was 
natural that those remaining in the States should 
object that the proceeds of its sale should go to the 
benefit of Brigham in the wilderness. Hence, it 
has been surmised that some reckless and over- 
zealous member of one of these branches, may have 
committed the act. But whoever it may have been, 
the Gentiles of the county have had to bear the 
blame. 

The largest part of the walls stood for a year or 
two, when the Icarian community, under M. 
Etienne Cabet, located in the city, purchased it, 
and with the materials built a school house and 
several other buildings for their purposes. After 
that community was dissolved a few years later, 
some of these structures were pulled down and 
scattered ; and now relic hunters can show frag- 
ments of the Nauvoo Temple in many States, and 
a thousand miles away. 

The grand Temple, under process of erection at 
Salt Lake, has been so often described of late, as to 
require only mere mention in this connection. 

The Eeconstructed Branch of the sect, under the 
leadership of the younger Smith, does not seem to be 



386 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

imbued with this mania for temple-building. For all 

the years their headquarters were at Piano, Illinois, 

we are not aware that they made any attempt to 

build a temple ; though it seems that they have 

sought and obtained title to the original one at 

Kirtland. They worship as other sects do, in plain 

meeting-houses, wherever the membership is strong 

enough to build them. What the course may be 

in their new location at Lamoni, Iowa, remains to 

be seen. They parade with great satisfaction the 

findings of the court of common pleas of Lake 

County, Ohio, as below, establishing their claim to 

be the true church and lineal descendant of that 

originated by the prophet. We quote from the 

Herald at Lamoni : 

** In Court of Common Pleas, Lake County, 
Ohio, February 23, 1880, present Hon. L. S. Sher- 
man, Judge. 

*' The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- 
ter-Day Saints, Plaintiff. 
vs. 
'< Lucien Williams, Joseph Smith, Sarah E. Videon, 
Mark H. Forscutt, The Church in Utah, of which 
John Taylor is President, and commonly known 
as the Mormon Church, and John Taylor, 
President of said Utah Church, Defendants. 
<* That the said Plaintiff, the Reorganized Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is a religious 
society, founded and organized upon the same doc- 
trines and tenets, and having the same Church 
organization, as the original Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-Day Saints, organized in 1830, by Joseph 



THE MOBMON TEMPLES, 387 

Smith, and was organized pursuant to the Consti- 
tution, laws and usages of said original Church, and 
has branches located in Illinois, Ohio and other 
States. 

<« That the Church in Utah, the defendant, of 
which John Taylor is President, has materially and 
largely departed from the faith, doctrines, laws, 
ordinances and usages, of said original Church of 
Jesus Christ ol Latter-Day Saints, and has incor- 
porated into its system of faith the doctrines of 
celestial marriage and a plurality of wives, and the 
doctrine of Adam-God worship, contrary to the laws 
and constitution of said original Church. And the 
court do further find that the Plaintifi*, the Ee- 
organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 
Saints, is the true and lawful continuation of and 
successor to the original Church of Jesus Christ of 
T«f«tter-Day Saints, organized in 1830, and is en- 
titled by law to all its rights and property." 

Whether the '' Church in Utah, of which John 
Taylor is President," defended the suit, does not 
appear ; but it is clear that, according to the tenets 
and laws and usages, as laid down in the books 
accepted by both plaintiff and defendant, the find- 
ings of the court were just. 

And so Joseph the younger has been authorita- 
tively pronounced to be the legal successor of Jo- 
seph the elder, as President of the Mormon Church ; 
and the claims of Brigham Young, Sidney Rigdon, 
Strang, the Patriarch Bill, and all the rest, denied. 
This gives him, and his Reconstructed Branch, a 
pre-eminence not to be disputed. 



388 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE RECONSTEUCTED MORMON CHURCH. 

A HISTORY of Mormonism would be incomplete 
without some reference to that branch of the sect 
known as the *' Reconstructed," over which Joseph 
Smith, son of the prophet, now presides. 

When Brigham Young withdrew with the main 
portion of the broken sect, on their perilous journey 
into the wilderness, he left behind, scattered in 
various directions, a number of once principal lead- 
ers with a considerable following. The Laws, the 
Fosters, the Higbees, owners and managers of the 
destroyed press, had gone off never to return ; 
General Bennett had been beaten in his quarrel with 
the prophet, but still had a hankering after the 
flesh-pots ; Rigdon had been ignominiously cut off 
from the church; "Brother William," the Patri- 
arch, with Marks, Robinson, and many others, had 
chosen to go the way not taken by Brigham and 
the Twelve. James J. Strang had already set up 
a << stake " at Yoree, in Wisconsin, and there a 
number of these after a time joined him. Even 
Bennett, Rigdon, the Patriarch William, and strong- 
lunged John E. Page, after various wanderings, 



THE EECOJSrSTBUCTED CHUBCH. 389 

essayed to gather the remnants around the Zion at 
Voree. But Strang's revelations proved unprofit- 
able, and his venture failed. Bennett left for 
greener pastures, and Rigdon repaired to Pennsyl- 
vania, his boyhood home, and died. 

What was the true origin of the *' Reconstructed 
Branch," it is hard now to tell ; but it seems to 
have grown out of this Strang movement. 

At the time of the exodus to Salt Lake, there 
were left behind and still residents of Nauvoo, the 
widow and family of the dead Prophet. These 
resisted all the importunities of Brigham and his 
followers to go with them. The son Joseph (the 
third of the name) , was then a boy ; and we have 
the best authority for the statement that neither 
he nor his mother believed in the Divine Mission of 
the father and husband, or that his death was a 
martyrdom to religious faith ; and at that time 
considered themselves as standing entirely aloof 
from the sect. Great efforts were made by the 
chiefs, on their departure, to obtain the co-operation 
of the widow and son, hoping thereby, to secure a 
larger following of the people. The mother is stated 
to have kept a watchful eye upon the boy, fearing 
that he might yield to the seductive offers that were 
made him. But he, too, hated and despised them ; 
and after they had become settled in the Salt Lake 



390 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA, 

valley, and lie was again approached, lie absolutely 

refused to yield to their tempting offers. 

But influences were at work on the other side. 

Strang was issuing a little organ at Voree, called 

Z ion's Reveille, edited by John Greenhow, who 

had figured at Nauvoo. In this organ, as early as 

1847, we find the following : 

"The First Presidency. — Young Joseph 
Smith (eldest son of the martyred prophet) has 
been appointed one of the first presidents of the 
church, by revelation, in the place of his uncle 
Hyrum, and William Marks has been appointed his 
coadjutor in like manner. The first presidency now 
consists of James J. Strang, (in place of Joseph 
Smith martyred,) George J. Adams, (in place of 
Sidney Rigdon, apostatized,) and Joseph Smith, 
(in place of Hyrum Smith, martyred). William 
Smith, the only surviving brother of Joseph and 
Hyrum, is the chief Patriarch, and as the Patriarch 
of the whole church has always held a seat in the 
councils of the first Presidency as coadjutor, that 
high prerogative will be freely accorded to him, by 
virtue of his patriarchate." 

Just what his age was at the time of this appoint- 
ment we are not advised, nor whether he duly 
accepted. But it seems that so late as 1866, at an 
annual conference, the work was completed, and 
the < ' Eeorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints" 
put in running order, with Joseph Smith, the third, 
at its head. 

In a newspaper of that date, we find an address 
made by the new prophet and president, the read- 



THE BECONSTBUCTED CIIVBCH, 391 

ing of which will show that, like his father, he 
claimed to be "Prophet, Seer, and Eevelator,' 
stating, however, that he had his '*own peculiar 
notion in regard to revelation," but did not state 
what that notion was. He seemed to be impressed 
with the belief that his claim to the position would 
not be rejected, and that the *' great name " of 
Joseph Smith carried with it some moral force. 

The headquai-ters of the * ' Keconstructed " Church 
were established at Piano, Illinois, the printing- 
press set at work, and the business of proselyting 
vigorously prosecuted. Since, churches have been 
established in many places, and converts made — 
among them people of character and worth ; and 
the sect may be regarded as one of the well-ordered 
and established sects of the country. Its origin, 
as preceding chapters have amply shown, was a 
most absurd and wicked fraud and delusion. 

That these people, under our free system of gov- 
ernment, have a right to organize a sect, and build 
a system of religious faith upon the Booh of Mor- 
mon, or the equally veritable story of Baron Mun- 
chausen, or any other, nobody will deny, whatever 
one may think of the character of the enterprise. 
Perhaps some of the previously existing sects have 
had equally absurd foundations ; hence, as long- 
as they conduct themselves in an orderly and de- 
cent manner and obey the laws, they will be equally 



392 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

entitled with all other citizens, to the law's protec- 
tion. 

While building upon the same foundation with 
their brethren in Utah, and accepting the silly 
story that brought them both into existence as 
organizations, they very properly reject the mon- 
strous doctrines inculcated there — doctrines which 
have made that territory a foul blot upon the 
nation's fame. Yet, strange to say — and it is a 
conspicuous example of human weakness and 
inconsistency — while denouncing the doctrines, 
they revere and hold as a martyr him who first 
declared and inculcated them. From this position 
there is no escape ; a position they must forever 
face. 

To say that a large portion of these people, now 
and in the past, in the States, and in Utah, are 
not sincere believers in what they profess, would, 
doubtless, be untrue and extremely uncharitable ; 
yet how any of the leaders — from the first 
" Prophet, Seer, and Eevelator," down to the 
latest in Utah, and the more modest * ' President " 
of the Reconstructed — can be honest, is past com- 
prehension ; a conundrum which all inquirers will 
be compelled to *' give up." 

The difierence in creed and practice, between 
these two branches of the sect, is mainly in the 
matter of polygamy, and the Blood Atonement. 



{ 



THE BECONSTBUCTED CHUBCH. 393 

Here in the States, among the members of the new 
church, we hear little of polygamy, except in 
denunciation ; nor do we hear any more of Danite 
Bands to keep apostasy in check. 



394 THE PEOFRET OF FALMYBAr 



CHAPTER XL. 

POLYGAJHY AND THE BLOOD ATONEMENT. 

The Twin Evils of Mormonism — Polygaiviy in Utah — 
Denounced by the " Keconstructed " — Originated by 
THE Prophet — Proofs Adduced — Blood Atoneivient 
Defined by Young — Known in Missouri and Illinois 
— Smith and Kigdon Its Authors. 

These two most foul and dangerous doctrines of 
the Mormon scheme are, at the present, eliciting 
much thought and inquiry, and attracting atten- 
tion among our legislators. Were they introduced 
by the Prophet Smith, and inculcated by him and 
his followers, or have they been engrafted into the 
creed since these people became denizens of the wil- 
derness? are inquiries herein to be considered. 
The members of the Reconstructed Latter-Day 
Church are very active in their efforts to show 
that polygamy is not a true Mormon doctrine ; and 
they denounce its practice on the part of their 
brethren in Utah, in like severe terms with all 
Christian sects and decent civilized people. In this, 
their sincerity and honest}^ need not be questioned. 
They quote, and quite truly, from the ^ooA; of Mor- 
mon, and from the BooTc of Doctrine and Covenants, 
as well as from all the jpiiblic teachings of the 



POLYGAMY— BLOOD ATONEMENT. 395 

prophet, numerous passages pointedly and dis- 
tinctly against the system. And they challenge the 
Utah people to point to one sentence, authorizing 
or sanctioning it, prior to Brigham Young's pre- 
tended revelation of August 29, 1852. So far, 
they have the argument on their side. There is 
nothing that we have been able to discover, in all 
of Joseph Smith's acTcnoioledged writings or public 
utterances, to justify this claim set up in Utah. 

The Utah brethren — some of them — admit this ; 
but claim that at the prophet's death the period had 
not arrived for its promulgation ; and they parade 
the new revelation above mentioned, as having 
been given to him and laid away until that proper 
time should arrive. When Brigham announced it 
in 1852, in Salt Lake, he stated that it had been 
given to Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, on the 12th day 
of July, 1843, nearly a year before his death; and 
that he (Young) had it in possession ever since. 
But the document was in his own handwriting, a 
circumstance he accounted for by the assertion that 
Mrs. Emma Smith, the widow, had purloined and 
destroyed the original. But why had he previously 
copied it? — had he done so in anticipation of her 
act? The story looks very much like a fabrication. 

The revelation thus promulgated is entitled : 
** A Revelation on the Patriarchal Order of Mat- 
rimony, or Plurality of Wives, Given to Joseph 



396 THE PBOPHI!T OF PALMYBA. 

S^vnTH, the Seev^ in JSFauvoo^ July 12, 1843" 
It is very lengthy, containing twenty-five sections, 
and is miserably disgusting and blasphemous. 
Emanating either from Smith or Young, it fur- 
nishes the basis for the introduction of polygamy 
into the Mormon creed, and as such we give it a 
place in these pages. It permits, yea, commands, 
in all its outrageous details, under the threatened 
penalty of *' damnation," for disobedience, the 
system of polygamy as now practiced by the lead- 
ers in Utah. And it must be confessed that it is 
little, if any, more disgusting than many of Smith's 
acknowledged utterances. And it contains some 
things, too, that would seem to have been the work 
of his own mind ; though these may have been 
introduced by Young to more readily serve his pur- 
pose of deception. One of these is the pains taken 
to conciliate Emma and prepare her for the new 
dispensation. In it she is directly addressed by 
name, and commanded to " obey," or she will be 
destroyed. 

Although this utterance of Brigham Young, nine 
years after its professed delivery from on high, 
looks much like a forgery on his part, yet still there 
were many circumstances leading to show that it 
may have been truly what he claimed for it. There 
is unquestionable evidence that in 1843 and 1844 — 
both before and after Smith's death — ^the subject of 



POLTQAMY-BLOOD ATONEMENT, 397 

polygamy (or what was then termed " Spiritual 
Wifery ") , was much discussed at Nauvoo. It had 
not, of course, been openly incorporated into the 
creed, by revelation or otherwise. Indeed, such 
was the force of outside and inside pressure, that it 
was necessary to meet the charge with the loudest 
denials. The two organs teemed with those de- 
nials, down to 1846 or '47, when they ceased to 
exist. John Taylor, lately at the head of the 
church in Utah, and counting several wives, was 
the editor of both those organs in Nauvoo. If 
Brigham had this sweet-scented document locked 
up in his drawer for three or four years in Illinois, 
and as many more in Salt Lake, would not John 
Taylor have been likely to know it ? The publica- 
tion of the document as emanating from Smith, 
whether truly or not, places the whole of them in 
an awkward dilemma, let them adopt which horn 
of it they choose. 

Although the members of the Reconstructed 
Branch may successfully show that none of their 
text-books teach or authorize polj^gamy, they will 
not be able to show that Joseph Smith, whom they 
reverence as a prophet, a man of God, and a martyr, 
was not the originator of the thought. The facts 
are too well known to all who were conversant 
with Mormon history in Nauvoo in the days of his 
power. We have it from good authority that this 



398 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

question is what, with others, caused Oliver Cow- 
dery to separate from him. Public opinion and 
the laws of the land prevented the doctrine from 
being oj^enly avowed and practiced in the States. 
But in the Eocky Mountains, where they erected 
an independent empire, and wrought out their own 
system, unrestrained by law, or public opinion, or 
the decent usages of civilization, the doctrine was 
soon proclaimed. Had the main body remained in 
the States, it would have been " Spiritual Wifery " 
still, with a " we-would-if-we-dare" effort to adopt 
it as a creed, denied to the world, and practiced 
in the harems of the leaders. There is said to 
be one prominent leader high in authority now 
in Utah, whose legal wife refused to leave Nau- 
voo with him, because he would not agree to 
forego the pleasures of the system in the wilder- 
ness ; and an estimable woman, wife of another 
leader there, who went with her husband, but who, 
because of the abominations she witnessed before 
leaving, still lives in the midst of its corruptions, 
hating Mormonism as she hates the Prince of Dark- 
ness. 

It is also well understood that when the great rebel- 
lion against the prophet occurred in 1844, and a new 
church was organized, and a paper started to oppose 
him, this was one of the chief charges brought 
tagainst him. That paper, the Nauvoo Expositor, 



POLYGAMY— BLOOD ATONEMENT. 399 

under date of June 7, 1844 (a year after the date 
named by Young as that of the supposed revelation) , 
contamed a long protest from the members of the 
new church, charging the prophet with teaching 
the doctrine of ** Celestial Marriage." One of the 
affidavits, made by Mr. Austin Cowles, a member 
of the high council, certifies that a document pur- 
porting to be a revelation from heaven authorizing 
and commanding them to have more wives than one, 
was read to him as early as the latter part or the 
suiMiviER OF 1843 ! Other testimonies of similar 
purpoi-t were made at the same time. These affida- 
vits, made in 1844, before the prophet's death, 
strongly support Brigham Young's statement in 
Utah, nine years later. 

It is remembered, also, that the main body of the 
prophet's adherents stoutly denied these charges, 
and denounced those making them as liars and per- 
jurers. Yet, of late years, in Utah, they have 
thrown off all disguises, and, contradicting their 
own declarations of former days, now claim that 
** Joseph " was not only the revelator of the doc- 
trine, but with disgusting particularity, declare that 
they knew of his practicing it long before it was 
revealed to him from heaven. The Deseret JS^eivs, 
the official daily organ of the church, is said to 
have lately published affidavits stating this fact, and 
citing the names of certain women now living in 



400 riZJB FBOPHET OF PALMTBA, 

Utah, who were in Nauvoo among the prophet's 
plural wives. One of these, Miss Eliza R. Snow, 
was well-known in Illinois as a poetess of no mean 
powers, whose pen often contributed through the 
Mormon papers to the glory of Zion and the great- 
ness of the prophet. We now learn where she 
obtained her inspiration. 

So that, whether the revelation promulgated by 
Brigham Young in 1852, was really the work of 
Smith or not, makes but little difference. It was, 
at any rate, if nothing more, an off-shoot of that 
poisonous Upas tree planted by him long before his 
death, and which Young and Hyde, and Kimball 
and Taylor, and the Pratts, have all these years so 
assiduously watered and nurtured. The Recon- 
structed brethren will hardly succeed in shifting 
the responsibility. Yet they do well in rejecting 
the creed. But — and to this question we desire to 
call their serious attention — should the genuine- 
ness of that latest revelation ever be fully estab- 
lished (as it may be) , what then ? Will they dis- 
own its doctrines still, and denounce its real author, 
as they now denounce its reputed forger ? Or will 
they make a virtue of necessity, and engraft the 
whole of their prophet's teachings into their creed, 
as they now do a part ? They should consider well 
the position they occupy. 

And so with the doctrine of « ' Blood Atone- 



POLYGAMY— BLOOD ATONEMENT, 401 

MENT." The annals of religious fanaticism can 
scarcely present a parallel to its atrocity, and yet it 
claimed to be in obedience to the Divine Injunction, 
<* Love one another ! " And, strange to say, this 
doctrine is so little understood, that it has lately 
been referred to in a Chicago pulpit, as *' one of 
those tenets of the Christian creed, accepted by 
Mormons in common with all other denomina- 
tions ! "* 

To show what blood atonement really means, let 
us refer to some of the utterances of Brigham Young 
and others in Utah. In a sermon delivered in the 
Tabernacle in Salt Lake, on February 8, 1857, 
Brigham used the following language : 

< * "When will we love our neighbors as ourselves ? 
In the first place, Jesus said that no man hateth 
his own flesh. It is admitted by all that every 
person loves himself. Now, if we do rightly love 
ourselves, we want to be saved and continue to 
exist ; we want to go into the Kingdom where we 
can enjoy eternity, and see no more sorrow or 
death. This is the desire of every person who be- 
lieves in God. Now, take a person in this congre- 
gation, who has knowledge with regard to being 
saved in the Kingdom of our God and our Father, 
and being exalted ; one who knows and understands 
the principles of eternal life, and sees the beauties 
and excellencies of the eternities before him, com- 
pared with the vain and foolish things of the world ; 
and suppose that he is overtaken in a gross fault, 
that he has committed a sin that he knows will 
deprive him of that exaltation which he desires, 

* Eev. Dr. Thomas, sermon, February, 1882, 



402 THE PBOFHET OF PALMYBA. 

and that he cannot attain to it without the shed- 
ding of his blood ; and also knows that by having 
his blood shed he will atone for that sin, and be 
saved and exalted with the Gods — is there a man 
or woman in this house, but would say, ' Shed my 
blood, that I might be saved and exalted with the 
Gods'? 

< ' All mankind love themselves : and let those 
principles be known by an individual, and he would 
be glad to have his blood shed. This would be 
loving ourselves even unto an eternal exaltation. 
Will you love your brothers or sisters likewise, 
when they have a sin that cannot be atoned for 
without the shedding of blood ? Will you love that 
man or woman well enough to shed their blood ? 
That is lohat Jesus Christ meant! He never told 
a man or woman to love their enemies in their 
wickedness, never ! He never meant any such 
thing. 

' ' I could refer you to plenty of instances where 
men have been righteously slain in order to 
at£)ne for their sins. I have seen scores and hun- 
dreds of people for whom there would have been a 
chance (in the last resurrection there will be) , if 
their lives had been taken and their blood spilled 
on the ground as a smoking incense to the Al- 
mighty, but who are now angels to the devil, until 
our elder brother, Jesus Christ, raises them up, 
conquers death, hell and the grave. 

' ' I have known a great many men who have left 
this Church, for whom there is no chance whatever 
for exaltation ; hut if their blood had been spilled 
it woidd have been better for them. 

'* The wickedness akd ignorance or the na- 
tions FORBID THIS PRINCIPLE BEING IN FULL FORCE ; 

BUT THE TIME WH^L COME t\tien the law of 
God will be in full force. ( ! ) This is loving 
OUR neighbors as ourselves ; if he needs help, 



POLYGAMY— BLOOD ATONEMENT. 403 

HELP HIM. If he wants SALVATION, AND IT IS 
NECESSARY TO SPILL HIS BLOOD ON THE EARTH, IN 
ORDER THAT HE 3IAY BE SAVED, SpILL IT. ( ! ! ) 

*' Now, brethren and sisters, will you live your 
RELIGION ? How many hundreds of times have I 
asked that question ? Will the Latter-Day Saints 
live their religion ? " 

On another occasion he said : 

''I know, when you hear my brethren telling 
about cutting people off from the earth, that you 
consider it a strong doctrine ; but it is to save them, 
not to destroy them. . . . 

' * There are sins that can be atoned for by an 
offering upon an altar, as in ancient days ; and there 
are sins that the blood of a lamb, of a calf, or of 
turtle doves, cannot remit, but they must be atoned 
for by the blood of the man. . . ." 

On an occasion, when preaching against apostasy 
— and apostasy from the Mormon Church has ever 
been one of the unpardonable sins, for the punish- 
ment of which the blood atonement has always been 
invoked — ^he used the followino- lano^uao:e : 

*' Now, you Gladdenites [followers of Gladden 
Bishop, an apostate], keep your tongues still, lest 
sudden destruction come upon you. I say, rather 
than that the apostates should flourish here^ I will 
UNSHEATH MY BOWIE-KNIFE, and couquer or die. 
Now, you nasty apostates, clear out, or judgment 
will be laid to the line and righteousness to the 
plummet. If you say it is all right [to the audi- 
ence] , raise your hands. Let us call upon the Lord 
to assist us in this and every other good work." 

During the delivery of the above there was a 
great outburst of approbation, and when the con- 



404 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA, 

gregation was called to raise hands, all hands were 
'^'aised, except those under condemnation. The 
trladdenites sought other fields of labor. Brigham 
'SToung was not the only one who thus preached 
Blood Atonement. He was echoed by several 
others. Thus, Jedediah M. Grant, one of the three 
presidents : 

<* I say there are men and women here, that I 
Would advise to go to the President immediately, 
and ask him to appoint a committee to attend to 
their case, and then let a place be selected, and let 
that committee shed their blood. 

' ' We have been trying long enough with this 
people, and I go in for letting the sword of the 
Almighty to be unsheathed, not only in word, but 
in deed." 

The foregoing, and numerous other quotations 
that might be made if necessary, are not the idle 
and unproven statements of Gentile enemies ; but 
are faithful transcripts from their own authorized 
publications. They show clearly what the doctrine 
of Blood Atonement means in Utah. That doc- 
trine has become a firmly established law in that 
territory, under the terrible despotism of the Priest- 
hood. Its spirit — under the guise of love to man 
— is as vindictive, and its modes and methods as 
secret, and silent, and sure, as those of the Spanish 
Inquisition. It means simply that apostasy, and 
all other sins against the church — or whatever the 
First Presidency choose to define as such — are to 



POLYGAMY— BLOOD ATONEMENT. 405 

be punished with death. It means that all power, 
temporal and spiritual, is made to reside in the 
church, and that the one man, whom they call its 
President, is that church's supreme infallible ex- 
ponent, whose voice is to be obeyed as the voice 
of God ! 

We do not observe that the Keconstructed Mor- 
mon branch in the States, have much to say in 
denunciation of this Blood Atonement doctrine. Is 
it possible they do not see that it is as great and a 
more dangerous evil than polygamy ? Nor does it 
appear that the people of the United States, 
or our legislators, are as fully alive to its enor- 
mity as its nature demands. Destroy that priestly 
power which is supreme and overrides ev€ny- 
thiug in Utah, and the evils of Mormonism and 
polygamy even, can soon be eradicated from Amer- 
ican soil. 

It is interesting, too, to inquire into the origin 
of this Atonement doctrine. Who, among the band, 
first inculcated it? Who first made it a tenet 
of the church creed? Brigham Young's broad 
shoulders — much of blood and rapine, and blas- 
phemy, and crime against government and law as 
they are justly doomed to bear — must not be laden 
with more than is just. As we have shown that 
polygamy had its origin in the States, so we shall 
show that this Blood Atonement creed was taught 



ioe THE PBOPHET OF PALiVYBA. 

and practiced there also, years before Brigliam^s 
reign in Utah. 

David Whitmer, always a good witness with 
them, when recently interviewed by the Kansas 
City Journal, says the Danite Band of Destroying 
Angels., was originated by Smith and Rigdon to be 
used against apostates, and that he and Oliver Cow- 
dery had to flee for their lives. Orson Hyde, in 
his quarrel with Rigdon in Nauvoo, in 1845, twits 
him with hiding slain apostates in the Missouri 
bush a few years before. Rigdon's celebrated 
** Salt Sermon," delivered one fourth of July in 
Missouri, contains the essence of the doctrine; and 
that sermon was at the time extolled and echoed by 
the leaders, though afterwards condemned as ill- 
timed and impolitic. How many of the seceders, 
in the days of Smith and Rigdon in Missouri and 
Illinois, were made to atone with their blood for 
their transgressions — "fall backward at their horse's 
heels " — Mr. Whitmer does not say, and it will 
never be known. 

Like polygamy. Blood Atonement was practiced 
in the days of the prophet — not taught ; used as 
an instrument of power — not peoclaimed as an 
emanation from the Divine Will. In short, it is 
safe to say, that the Mormonism, as it existed in 
Ohio, in Missouri, in Illinois, during the years 
1830 to 1847, bore a strong resemblance to that 



P0LYGA2fY— BLOOD ATONEMENT. 407 

of 1856 in Utah, and to-day; differing in degree, 
and by reason of changed circumstances only ; and 
that the gigantic evils that have been growing up 
with it in all these years, were planted and nuitured 
in its soil from the beojinnino'. 



408 THE rBOFEET OF FALMYIiA. 



CHAPTEE XLL 



THE SPALDING EOMANCE. 



Review op the Situation — Dr. Huelbut and E. D. Howe 
— Their Book, " Moemoistism Unveiled" — Solomon 
Spalding's " Manuscript Found" — Effort to Obtain 
It — Recent Statements Concerning It. 

It has been charged that the Booh of Mormon, 
instead of being a translation from golden plates, 
bearing a valuable message from heaven, as claimed 
by Joseph Smith, was really based on a romance 
known as Manuscript Found, written b}^ a cer- 
tain Presbyterian clergyman, as long ago as 1814. 
This charge is, and always has been, stoutly denied 
by Mormon writers, and the proof demanded. They, 
some of them at least, doubtless know why it is 
the document cannot be produced to substantiate 
the charge. But it so happens that there are other 
ways of establishing the fact. There are not, 
probably, now living, any perpons outside of the 
Mormon connection, who are in possession of the 
secret, as to where, and when, and how it was 
effected, and by whom ; but that the Spalding work 
did get into the hands of Smith and his co-laborers 
in deception, and was made the basis of the mis- 
erable structure known as the Book of Mormon ^ is 



THE SFALDING BOMANGE. 409 

now as clear as human festimony can make it. The 
history of that romance is a curious one ; and the 
proofs of its being the ground work on which^the 
Mormon fraud was built, are so many and so various, 
that we shall be pardoned for devoting so much 
space to their consideration. 

The reader will remember that the Smith family 
resided, from 1825 to 1830, during the incubation 
period of the fraud, at the village of Palmyra, New 
York , and at Manchester , near by . The Booh of Mor- 
mon was printed in 1829-30, at Palmyra, and pub- 
lished to the world in the last named year. About the 
time of its publication a church was foimed, and^ 
soon afterwards it was decided to emigrate to, and 
settle and build a Zion in, North-eastern Ohio. 
At this place, Kirtland, a large settlement was 
made, a temple begun, and many converts made. 
Among these converts, was a certain Dr. Philastus 
Hurlbut. This doctor soon quarrelled with the 
leaders, and was expelled or withdrew from the 
church; and going to Painesville, induced Mr. E. 
D. Howe, of the Painesville Telegraphy to get up 
an expose of Mormonism. This was in 1833 
or '34, and the book was published in 1834, only 
four years after the Book of Mormon had been 
printed. 

When the Book of Mormon appeared in Ohio, 
during the year of its publication or year after, some 



410 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA, 

of t"he old residents in the region recognized in it 
an old acquaintance. This old acquaintance was a 
manuscript work written by Eev. Solomon Spald- 
ing, who, sixteen years before, had resided at 
Conneaut Creek, in the vicinity — a book which he 
had denominated The Manuscrijpt Found. Mr. 
Spalding was a retired clergyman, poor and in debt, 
and in bad health. He had become interested in 
some mounds in the vicinity, and his thoughts dwelt 
much upon the pre-historic inhabitants of this coun- 
try ; so much so, that he resolved to write a pre- 
tended history of such a people, and in " Scripture 
style." It cannot be denied that the reverend 
gentleman, though honest and well-meaning, was 
something of a <« crank," and possessed of an ill- 
balanced mind. While his romance was in prog- 
ress, he took frequent occasion to read portions of 
it to his neighbors and friends ; and by reason of 
its peculiarity of style, and the names he intro- 
duced, as well as the incidents narrated, it made an 
impression on their memories. This manuscript, 
with some others, was written in 1812 to 1814. 
In the latter year he removed to Pittsburgh, and 
thence to Amity, Washington County, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he died in 1816. 

Such was the reception of the Booh of Mormon 
in the vicinity of Spalding's old home, when it first 
made its appearance among them. 



THE SPALDING BOMANCE, 411 

Aware of this charge of plagiarism, Mr. Howe 
dispatched Dr. Hurlbut to Massachusetts, where 
the widow Spalding (then Mrs. Davison, having 
remarried) , resided, for the purpose of procuring 
the Manuscript Found, with which to confront 
Monnonism. He also went among Spalding's old 
neighbors at Conneaut, and brought to Mr. Howe 
a large number of testimonials from them ; and he 
likewise visited the region around Palmyra, Smith's 
former residence, and procured much testimony 
showing the character of the Smith family, and the 
folly and falsity of the prophet's pretensions. 

In due time, Howe's Mormonism Unveiled — 
(Hurlbut's name not appearing on its title page), 
was issued ; but it contained no citations from the 
Manuscript Found. A copy of thiswork — a later 
edition, printed in 1840, with its title changed to 
History of Mormonism — now lies before us. We 
copy below what its author says about Spalding's 
romance, which will explain why no extracts were 
made from it : 

'' But our inquiries did not terminate here. Our 
next object was to ascertain, if possible, the dispo- 
sition Spalding made of his manuscripts. For this 
purpose a messenger was dispatched to look up the 
widow of Spalding, who was found residing in 
Massachusetts. From her we learned that Spald- 
ing resided in Pittsburgh about two years, when 
he removed to Amity, Washington County, Pa., 
where he lived about two years, and died in 1816^ 



412 THE PROPHET OF PALMTRA. 

His widow then removed to Onondaga County, 
N. Y., married again, and lived in Otsego County, 
and subsequently removed to Massachusetts. She 
states that Spalding had a great variety of manu- 
scripts^ and recollects that one was entitled the 
Manuscript Found, but of its contents she has now 
no distinct knowledge. While they lived in Pitts- 
burgh, she thinks it was once taken to the printing 
office oi Patterson <& Lamhdin; but whether it was 
ever brought back to the house again, she is quite 
uncertain; if it was, however, it was then with his 
other writings, in a trunk which she had left in 
Otsego County, N. Y. This is all the information 
that could be obtained from her, except that Mr. 
Spalding while living, entertained a strong antip- 
athy to the Masonic Institution, which may account 
for its being so frequently mentioned in the BooT<; 
of Mormon. The fact also, that Spalding, in the 
latter part of his life, inclined to infidelity, is estab- 
lished by a letter in his hand-writing, now in our 
possession.* 

* ' The trunk referred to by the widow, was sub- 
sequently examined, and found to contain only a 
single MS. book, in Spalding's hand- writing, con- 
taining about one quire of paper. This is a ro- 
mance, purporting to have been translated from the 
Latin, found on 24 rolls of parchment, in a cave 
on the banks of Conneaut CreeJc, but written in 
modern style, and giving a fabidous account of a 
ship^s being driven upon the American coast, while 
proceeding from Rome to Britain, a short time pre- 
vious to the Christian Bra,-\ this country being then 
inhabited by the Indians. This old MS. has been 

* The reader will have occasion to rememher this letter 
hereafter, as establishing an important point in this history. 

t The reader will have occasion to refer to this description, 
given by Howe in 1834, when perusing what follows In a chap- 
ter further on. 



THE SPALDING ROMANCE. 413 

shown to several of the foregoing witnesses, who 
recognize it as Spalding's, he having told them that 
he had altered his first plan of writing, by going 
further back with dates, and writing in the old 
scripture style, in order that it might appear more 
ancient. They say that it bears no resemblance to 
the Manuscript Found." — Howe' s History of Mar- 
monism^ p. 287. 

The reader will have need to remember the fore- 
going description of the MS. brought to Mr. Howe 
by Hurlbut. It was evidently not the work sought 
for, and, of course, could not be used, and, as 
Spalding's friends stated, bore no resemblance to 
the Manuscript Found. 

Hurlbut has frequently stated that the MS. was 
obtained from the Spalding family under a promise 
to return it. The reason this was not done, has 
never been satisfactorily explained by him or Howe. 
That it was not so returned is to be regretted ; as 
its return to the family might have been the means 
of turning their attention to the other, which had 
disappeared, and led to its recovery, or some more 
positive knowledge concerning it, ihan is now 
attainable. 

The surviving members of the Spalding family 
have always blamed Hurlbut (not knowing any- 
thing of Howe until latterly) for refusing or neg- 
lecting to return the MS., or to respond when ad- 
dressed. Both of these gentlemen have frequently 
been addressed on the subject, and their explana- 



414 THE PBOPHET OF TALMYBA. 

tion sought, by writers on Mormonism ; and it can- 
not be denied that their explanations are somewhat 
contradictory and unsatisfactory. Some of these 
later replies we quote. In one instance, Dr. Hurl- 
but says, under date of May 7, 1881 : "I never 
had it (^Manuscrijpt Found) in my possession. I 
had some of his writings, but nothing pertaining 
to Mormonism." To Mrs. Ellen E. Dickinson, a 
friend and relative of the Spa! dings, he made a 
sworn statement of similar purport. (See Scrib- 
ner's Magazine, October, 1881.) But she states 
that he subsequently admitted to her, that he just 
peeped into the MS. and saw the names of '< Mo- 
roni," «« Mormon," " Nephi," and " Lamanite." 
Here is some error, certainly, of fact or memory ; 
for the MS. he brouglit to Howe contained no one 
of those names, as will be shown hereafter ; and of 
all Spalding's writings, they are to be found only in 
the Manuscript Found, and this the doctor says he 
never had. Another statement of his we give in 
his own words, in a letter to an inquirer : 

** GiBsoNBUEG, O., Aug. 19, 1879. 
*' I visited Mrs. Matilda (Spalding) Davison at 
Monson, Mass., in 1834, and never saw her after- 
terwards. I then received from her a manuscript 
of her husband's, which I did not read, but brought 
home with me, and immediately gave it to Mr. E. 
D. Howe of Painesville, O., who was then engaged 
in preparing his book, Mormonism Unveiled. I 
do not know whether or not the document I received 



THE SPALDING BOMANCE. 415 

from Mrs. Davison, was Spalding's Manuscrijpt 
Found, as I never read it ; but, whatever it was, 
Mr. Howe received it under the condition on which 
I took it from Mrs. Davison — to compare it with the 
Book of Mormon, and then return it to her. I 
have never received any other MS. of Spalding's 
from Mrs. Davison or any one else. Of that man- 
uscript I made no other use, than to give it, with 
all my other documents connected with Mormon- 
ism, to Mr. Howe. I did not destroy the MS. or 
dispose of it to Joe Smith, or any other person. 
1^0 promise was made by me to Mrs. Davison that 
she should receive any portion of profits arising 
from the publication of the manuscript, if it should 
be published. All the affidavits procured by me 
for Mr. Howe's book, including all those from Pal- 
myra, N. Y., were ceii^ainly genuine. 

" D. P. HURLBUT." 

The latter portion of the foregoing has reference 
to suspicions that had been hinted at, that Hurlbut 
had really obtained the Mamcscrvpt Found, and 
instead of delivering it to Howe, had sold it to the 
Mormon prophet. There did seem to be ground 
for suspicion against one or both of these men. They 
failed to return the work as promised, or to give 
satisfaction concerning it ; and their disagreeing 
statements as to how and of whom it was obtained, 
led the Spaldings and the public to doubt their in- 
tegrity. It is extremely remarkable, too, that Dr. 
Hurlbut should go all the way to Massachusetts, in 
order to obtain a certain manuscript, that was ex- 
pected to be the most important thing of all, in the 
proposed publication, and return without knowing 



416 THE PBOPRET OF PALMYBA. 

whether the thing obtained was what was wanted. 

A slight reading of half-a-dozen pages, or even of 

its title page, would have shown him whether it was 

the ' ' confounding of language " contained in the 

Booh of Mormon. 

In a late letter to the writer of these pages, Mr. 

Howe says : 

" I know the descendants of Spalding are making 
a great blow about that old MS. ; but I am as well 
satisfied now as I was then, that Hurlbut never had 
any thing at all similar to what was called the Man- 
uscript Found. All he got of Spalding's was fully 
described in my book, and was in my possession for 
several years, and I suppose was destroyed by fire." 

^Yhat the Spaldings say of the matter is reserved 

for another chapter. 



< 



SPALDING FAMILY STATEMENTS. 417 



CHAPTER XLII. 

STATEMENTS OF THE SPALDING FAMILY. 

Mrs. Davison's Statejient — Denied by the IfoRMONS — 
Mrs. DiciaxsoN's Publication in " Scribner's Maga- 
zine"— J. E. Johnson in "Deseret News "—Disagree- 
ing Statements. 

The first publication in reference to the Spald- 
ing Romance, made by any of the family, was in 
1839. It was written for the Boston Recorder, and 
published in that paper — purporting to emanate 
from Mrs. Matilda Davison, the widow of Rev. 
Solomon Spalding. As an important link in the 
chain of evidence, we give it entire : 

Mks. (Spalding) Davison's Statement. 

' ' Learning recently that Mormonism has found 
its way into a Church in Massachusetts, and has 
impregnated some of its members with its gross 
delusions, so that excommunication has become 
necessary, I am determined to delay no longer 
doing what I can to strip the mask from this mon- 
ster of sin, and to lay open this pit of abominations. 
Rev. Solomon Spalding, to whom I was united in 
marriage in early life, was a graduate of Dartmouth 
College, and was distinguished for a lively imagin- 
ation and great fondness for history. At the time 
of our marriage he resided in Cherry Valley, N. Y. 
From this place we removed to New Salem, Ash- 
tabula County, Ohio — sometimes called Conneaut, 
as it is situated upon Conneaut Creek. Shortly 



418 TRE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

after our removal to this place, his health sunk, 
and he was laid aside from active labors. In the 
town of New Salem there were numerous mounds 
and forts, supposed by many to be the dilapidated 
dwellings and fortifications of a race now extinct. 
These ancient relics arrest the attention of the new 
settlers, and become objects of research for the 
curious. Numerous implements were found, and 
other articles, evincing great skill in the arts. Mr. 
Spalding, being an educated man, passionately fond 
of history, took a lively interest in these develop- 
ments of antiquity ; and in order to beguile the 
hours of retirement and furnish employment for his 
lively imagination, conceived the idea of giving an 
historical sketch of this long lost race. Their ex- 
treme antiquity would of course lead him to write 
in the most ancient style, and as the Old Testa- 
ment is the most ancient book in the world, he 
imitated its style as nearly as possible. 

*' His sole object in writing this historical ro- 
mance was to amuse himself and neighbors. This 
was about the year 1812. Hull's surrender at De- 
troit occurred near the same time, and I recollect 
the date well from that circumstance. As he pro- 
gressed in his narrative, the neighbors would come 
in from time to time to hear portions read, and a 
great interest in the work was excited among them. 
It claimed to have been written by one of the lost 
nation, and to have been recovered from the earth, 
and assumed the title of Manuscript Found. The 
neighbors would often inquire how Mr. S. progressed 
in deciphering the manuscript ; and when he had 
a sufficient portion prepared, he would inform them 
and they would assemble to hear it read. He was 
enabled from his acquaintance with the classics and 
ancient history, to introduce many singular names, 
which were particularly noticed by the people and 
could be easily recognized by them. Mr. Solomon 



SPALDING FAMILY STATEMENTS. 419 

Spalding had a brother, Mr. John Spalding, residing 
in the place at the time, who was perfectly familiar 
with this work, and repeatedly heard the whole of 
it read. From New Salem we removed to Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. Here Mr. Spalding found an acquaint- 
ance and friend, in the person of Mr. Patterson, an 
editor of a newspaper. He exhibited his manu- 
script to Mr. Patterson, who was very much pleased 
with it, and borrowed it for perusal. He retained 
it a long time, and informed Mr. S. that if he would 
make out a title page and preface, he would publish 
it, and it might be a source of profit. This Mr. S. 
refused to do, for reasons I cannot now state. 

*• Sidney Rigdou, who has figured so largely in 
the history of the Mormons, was at this time con- 
nected with the printing office of Mr. Patterson, as 
is well-known in that region, and as Eigdon him- 
self has frequently stated. Here he had ample 
opportunity to become acquainted with Mr. Spald- 
ing's manuscript, and to copy it if he chose. It 
was a matter of notoriety and interest to all who 
were connected Avith the printing establishment. 
At lengih the manuscript was returned to the au- 
thor, and soon after we removed to Amit}^, Wash- 
ington County, Pa., where Mr. Spalding deceased 
in 1816. The manuscript fell into my hands and 
was carefully preserved. It has frequently been 
examined by my daughter, Mrs. McKinstry of Mon- 
son, Mass., with whom I now reside, and by other 
friends. After the Booh of Mormon came out, a 
copy of it was taken to New Salem, the place of 
Mr. Spalding's former residence , and the very place 
where the Manuscript Found was written. 

''A woman preacher appointed a meeting there 
(New Salem) , and in the meeting read and repeated 
copious extracts from the Booh of Mormon. The 
historical part was immediately I'ecognized b}' all the 
older inhabitants as the identical work of Mr 



420 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

Spalding, in which they had been so deeply interested 
years before. Mr. John Spalding was present, who 
is an eminently pious man, and recognized perfectly 
the work of his brother. He was amazed and 
afflicted, that it should have been perverted to so 
wicked a purpose. His grief found vent in a flood 
of tears, and he expressed in the meeting his deep 
sorrow and regret that the writings of his sainted 
brother should be used for a purpose so vile and 
shocking. The excitement in New Salem became 
so great, that the inhabitants had a meeting and 
deputed Dr. Philastus Hurlbut, one of their number, 
to repair to this place, and to obtain from me the 
original manuscript of Mr. Spalding, for the pur- 
pose of comparing it with the Mormon Bible, to 
satisfy their own minds, and to prevent their friends 
and others from embracing an error so delusive. 
This was in the year 1834. Dr. Hurlbut brought 
with him an introduction and request for the man- 
uscript, signed by Messrs. Henry Lake, Aaron 
Wright, and others, with all of whom I was ac- 
quainted, as they were my neighbors when J re- 
sided at New Salem. I am sure that nothing could 
have given my husband more pain, were he living, 
than the use which has been made of his work. 

'* The air of antiquity which was thrown about 
the composition, doubtless suggested the idea of 
converting it to purposes of delusion. Thus an 
historical romance, with the addition of a few 
pious expressions, and extracts from the Sacred 
Scriptures, has been construed into a New Bible, 
and palmed off upon a company of poor deluded 
fanatics, as divine. I have given the previous brief 
, narration, that this work of deception and wicked- 
ness may be searched to the foundation, and its 
author exposed to the contempt and execration he 
so justly deserves. 

*' Matilda Davison." 



SPALDING FAMILY STATEMENTS, 421 

The foregoing was accompanied by a certificate 
of good character, etc., from Rev. A. Ely, D.D., 
-Pastor of the Congregational Church, and D. R. 
Austin, Principal of Monson Academy, Monson, 
Mass., under date of April 1, 1839. The Mormons 
met this by a statement, that, on being interviewed 
two or three years later, Mrs.pavison denied having 
written such a letter ; stating that it was the work 
of Professor Austin himself, after a conversation 
with her on the subject ; though she affirmed that 
what was written '* was in the main true.'' — Times 
and Seasons, vol. i. p. 47. 

This statement of Mrs. Davison's was made five 
years after the interview with Dr. Hurlbut, and but 
nine years after the events she mentions as occurring 
at New Salem. While portions of her story are 
based upon her own knowledge, other portions 
depend, of course, upon the statements of others. 
It is just such a narrative as a wife might be ex- 
pected to make, who retained a reverence and affec- 
tion for a deceased husband and a partialit}^ for his 
writings. Some of her statements may have been, 
however, founded in error, as they are not all borne 
out by subsequent developments. The Mormons 
contradict her statement, concerning the ** woman 
preacher " reading from the Booh of Mormon in 
a public meeting, by the declaration that they never 
had a woman preacher among them. True ; but 



422 THE FBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

she does not say it was a Mormon preacher. New 
Salem is in the midst of Quaker settlements, and 
they have women preachers among them; and it 
may have been one of these, who, in the meeting, 
was exposing the wickedness of the fraud. 

In corroboration of Mrs. Davison's statements, 
Mrs. Ellen E. Dickinson, a relative of the Spalding 
family, published in Scrihner's Magazine for Au^ 
gust, 1880, a paper on the BooTc of Mormon^ 
which is reproduced below : 

*' Washington, D. C, April 3, 1880. 

'* So much has been published that is erroneous 
concerning the Manuscript Found, written by my 
father, the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, and its sup- 
posed connection with the book called the Mormon 
Bible, I have willingly consented to make the fol- 
lowing statement regarding it, repeating all that I 
remember personally of this manuscript, and all 
that is of importance which my mother related to 
me in connection with it, at the same time affirming 
that I am in tolerable health, and vigor, and that 
my memory, in common with elderly people, is 
clearer in regard to the events of my earlier years, 
rather than those of my maturer life. 

'* During the war of 1812, 1 v/as residing with my 
parents in a little town in Ohio called Conneaut. 
I was then in my sixth year. My father was in 
business there, and I remember his iron foundry 
and the men he had at work, but that he remained 
at home most of the time, and was reading and 
writing a great deal. He frequently wrote little 
stories, which he read to me. There were some 
round mounds of earth near our house which greatly 
interested him, and he said a tree on the top of one 



SPALDING FAMILY STATEMENTS, 423 

of them was a thousand years old. He set some of 
his men to work digging into one of these mounds, 
and I vividly remember how excited he became 
when he heard that they had exhumed some human 
bones, portions of gigantic skeletons, and various 
relics. He talked with my mother of these discov- 
eries in the mound, and was writing every day as 
the work progressed. Afterward he read the man- 
uscript which I had seen him writing, to the neigh- 
bors, and to a clergyman, a friend of his who came 
to see him. Some of the names that he mentioned 
while reading to these people I have ne^-er forgot- 
ten. They are as fresh to me to-day as though 
I heard them yesterda3^ They were ^Mormon,^ 
' Maroni,^ ' Lamenite^'' ' I^ejphi.^ 

" We removed from Conneaut to Pittsburg^ 
while I was still very young, but every circumstance 
of this removal is distinct in my memory. In that 
city my father had an intimate friend named Pat- 
terson, and I frequently visited Mr. Patterson's 
library with him, and heard my father talk about 
books with him. In 1816 my father died at Amity, 
Pennsylvania, and directly after his death my mother 
and m^^self went to visit at the residence of my 
mother's brother, William H. Sabine, at Onondaga 
Valley, Onondaga County, New York. Mr. Sabine 
was a lawyer of distinction and wealth, and greatly 
respected. We carried all our personal effects with 
us, and one of these was an old trunk, in which my 
mother had placed all my father's writings which 
had been preserved. I perfectly remember the 
appearance of this trunk, and of looking at its con- 
tents. There were sermons and other papers, and 
I saw a manuscript about an inch thick, closely 
written, tied with some of the stories my father had 
written for me, one of which he called * The Frogs 
ofWyndham.' On the outside of this manuscript was 
written the words, 'Manuscript Found.' I did not 



424 THE PBOTHET OF PALMYRA. 

read it, but looked through it and had it in my hands 
many times, and saw the names I had heard at Con- 
neaut, when my father read it to his friends. I was 
about eleven years of age at this time. 

"After we had been at my uncle's for some time, 
my mother left me there and went to her father's 
house at Pomfret, Connecticut, but did not take her 
furniture nor the old trunk of manuscripts with her. 
In 1820 she married Mr. Davison, of Hartwicks, a 
village near Cooperstown, New York, and sent for 
the things she had left at Onondaga Valley, and I 
remember that the old trunk, with its contents, 
reached her in safety. In 1828, I was married to 
Dr. A. McKinstry, of Hampden County, Massa- 
chusetts, and went there to reside. Very soon 
after my mother joined me there, and was with me 
most of the time until her death in 1844. We heard, 
not long after she came to live with me — ^I do not 
remember just how long — something of Mormon- 
ism, and the report that it had been taken from my 
father's il^fa?n^sc?^^jp^ i^o?incZ; and then came to us 
direct an account of the Mormon meeting at Con- 
neaut, Ohio, and that, on one occasion, when 
the Mormon Bible was read there in public, 
my father's brother, John Spaulding, Mr. Lake 
and many other persons who were present, at once 
recognized its similarity to the Manuscript Foud, 
which they had heard read years before by my father 
in the same town. There was a great deal of talk and 
a great deal published at this time about Mormon- 
ism all over the country. I believe it was in 1834 
that a man named Hurlburt came to my house at 
Monson to see my mother, who told us that he had 
been sent by a committee to procure the Manuscript 
Found, written by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, 
so as to compare it with the Moimon Bible. He 
presented a letter to my mother from my uncle, 
William H. Sabine, of Onondaga Valley, in which he 



SPALDING FAMILY STATEMENTS, 425 

requested her to loan this manuscript to Hurlburt, 
as he (my uncle) was desirous to ' uproot ' (as he 
expressed it) ' this Mormon fraud.' Hurlburt repre- 
sented that he had been a convert to Mormonism, 
but had given it up, and through the Manuscript 
Found wished to expose its wickedness. My 
mother was careful to have me with her in all the 
conversations she had with Hurlburt, who spent a 
day at my house. She did not like his appearance, 
and mistrusted his motives, but having great respect 
for her brother's wishes and opinions, she reluc- 
tantly consented to his request. The old trunk, 
containing the desired Manuscrij)t Found she had 
placed in the care of Mr. Jerome Clark, of Hart- 
wicks, when she came to Monson, intending to send 
for it. On the repeated promise of Hurlburt to re- 
turn the manuscript to us, she gave him a letter to 
Mr. Clark to open the trunk and deliver it to him. 
We afterward heard that he did receive it from Mr. 
Clark, at Hart wicks, but from that time we have 
never had it in our. possession, and I have no pres- 
ent knowledge of its existence, Hurlburt never re- 
turning it or answering letters requesting him to do 
so. Two years ago I heard he was still living in 
Ohio, and with my consent he was asked for the 
Manuscript Found. He made no response, although 
we have evidence that he received the letter con- 
taining the request. So far I have stated facts 
within my knowledge. My mother mentioned many 
other circumstances to me in connection with this 
subject which are interesting, of my father's literary 
tastes, his fine education and peculiar temperament. 
She stated to me that she had heard the manuscript 
alluded to read by my fiither, was familiar with its 
contents, and she deepl}^ regretted that her hus- 
band, as she believed, had innocently been the 
means of furnishing matter for a religious delusion. 
She said that my father loaned this Manuscript Found 



426 THE PBOPHET OF PAL3ITBA. 

to Mr. Patterson, of Pittsburg, and that when he 
returned it to my father, he said : ' Polish it up, 
finish it, and you will make money out of it.* My 
mother confirmed my remembrances of my father's 
fondness for history, and told me of his frequent 
conversations regarding a theory which he had of a 
prehistoric race which had inhabited this continent, 
etc., all showing that his mind dwelt on this subject. 
The Manuscript Founds she said, was a romance 
written in Biblical style, and that while she heard 
it read she had no especial admiration for it more 
than other romances he wrote and read to her. AYe 
never, either of us, ever saw, or in any way com- 
municated with the Mormons, save Hurlburt, as 
above described ; and while we have no personal 
knowledge that the Mormon Bible was taken from 
the Manuscript Found, there were many evidences 
to us that it was, and that Hurlburt and others at 
the time thought so. A convincing proof to us of 
this belief was that my uncle, William H. Sabine, 
had undoubtedly read the manuscript while it was 
in his house, and his faith that its production would 
show to the world that the Mormon Bible had been 
taken from it, or was the same with slight altera- 
tions. I have frequently answered questions that 
have been asked by diiferent persons regarding the 
Manuscript Found., but until now have never made 
a statement at length for publication. 
'' (Signed), 

<«M. S. McKmsTEY. 
** Sworn and subscribed to before me this 3d 
day of April, a.d. 1880, at the city of Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

«< Chaeles Walter, 
*' Notary Public. " 

This statement by Mrs. McKinstry was com- 
municated to the Salt Lake Deseret JSfews, in De- 



SPALDING FAMIL T ST A TEMENTS. 427 

cember, 1880, in a letter of which the following is 
a copy : 

<* St. Geoege, Utah, 
" December 28, 1880. 
' * Editor Deseret JSFeios : 

<* We enclose ajffidavit of Mrs. McKinstry, from 
Scribner's August number, bringing to light an im- 
portant fact in regard to the relation of Solomon 
Spaulding's Manuscript Found and the Book of 
Mormon. At an early day it was asserted by the 
enemies of the Church, that the Book of Mormon 
was copied from, or founded on, the. manuscript of 
Spaulding, and year after year new recruits have 
appeared and made unproved assertions to this same 
statement, and here is the last, with an appearance 
of being substantiated — but really acting just the 
reverse of what was intended. 

"It would be ridiculous to suppose that man, 
woman or child, could thoughtlessly listen to the 
reading of a book or manuscript in 1812 and then 
in 1834 or 1880, be able to say with the least pros- 
pect of fact, on reading the Boole of Mormon, that 
names and incidents were the same. But the facts 
are clear and startling, that in 1834 Dr. Hurlburt 
did write a book claiming to expose Mormonism — 
that he went east to obtain the Manuscrijjt Found 
— that he absolutely obtained the work — ^that 
when he returned he declared he could not find it 
— and that his book was published without a sen- 
tence copied from Manuscript Found. 

'* These facts, when coupled, should prove to 
any reasonable mind that the publishers of the first 
book exjjosing Mormonism well knew that their 
pretenses were false, and that Manuscript Found 
would never do as a foundation even for the Booh 
of Mormon, and so fearing their falsehood might 
be brought to light, probably destroyed it. Dr. 



428 THE PBOPHET OF FALMYBA. 

Hurlburt's book is still extant in many libraries, and 
doubtless a copy may be found in Salt Lake City. 
In A.D. 1834, 1 was 17 years old, and well remem- 
ber Dr. Hurlburt from the time he first came to 
Kirtland and was fully acquainted with him till after 
his book was published. 

** In the year a.d. 1833, then living in Kirtland, 
Ohio, I became acquainted with a man subsequently 
known as Dr. Hurlburt, who came to investigate the 
truth of Mormonism. Claiming to be satisfied, he 
was baptized and became a member in full fellowship. 
He was a man of fine physique, very pompous, good 
looking and very ambitious, with some energy, 
though of poor education. Soon after his arrival 
he came to my mother's house to board, where he 
remained for nearly a year, while he made an effort 
to get into a good practice of medicine, sought 
position in the Church, and was ever stirring to 
make marital connection with any of the « first fam- 
ilies.' 

"Finally in 1834 he was charged with illicit 
intercourse with the sex, was tried and cut off from 
the Church. He denied, expostulated, threatened, 
but to no use, the facts were too apparent, and he 
at once vowed himself the enemy of the Church — 
threatened to write a book that would annihilate 
Mormonism, and went to Painesville, ten miles, and 
allied himself to a publisher there who agreed to print 
his book if he would furnish the matter. A fund 
was raised by the ' Anti-Mormons ' in the village 
around, and enough means raised to send Hurlburt 
east to hunt up and obtain the writings of Solomon 
Spaulding, called Manuscript Founds which had al- 
ready become famous as the alleged matter from 
which the BooTc of Mormon was written. 

' « Hurlburt went east and was absent some two or 
three months — and on his return publicly declared 
that he could not obtain it, but instead brought sevn 



BFALDING FAMILY STATEMENTS. 429 

oral affidavits from persons who claimed to have heard 
Solomon Spaulding read his ManuscinjU Found 
in 1812, and believed as well as they could remem- 
ber that the matter and story was the same as printed 
in the Booh of Mormon. And tiiese were pub- 
lished in his book of Mormonism Ex^posed^ in that 
or the subsequent year, but not a sentence from 
the Manuscript Found, which it appears by the 
above that he did really obtain^ but finding no sim- 
ilarity between the two, suppressed the Spaulding 
manuscript, while he publicly announced in his 
book that he had entirely failed to obtain it. Hurl- 
burt proved himself to be a man of gross immorality, 
untruthful and unreliable. 

"According to the sworn statement of M. S. 
McKinstry,Dr. Hurlburt did obtain the Manuscript 
Found, and the only conclusion that can be rea- 
sonable is, that finding it would spoil his case and 
ruin his purposes, that manuscript was destroyed 
or suppressed, and may never come to the light, 
as it seems he still refuses to return it to the owners, 
no doubt fearing it would bring to light his false- 
hood and villainy. 

«< J. E. Johnson." 

And to Mr. Johnson's communication the Salt 

Lake editor adds the following comment : 

<«The affidavit of Mrs. McKinstry is valuable 
because it establishes several points. First, that 
Spaulding's manuscript was but a small afiair com- 
pared with the book that is said to have been writ- 
ten from it — it was but an inch thick of written, 
not printed, matter. Second, that it was only out 
of the author's hands a short time, and that as far 
back as 1812. Third, that afterwards it was in 
Mrs. Spaulding's possession until Hurlburt obtained 
it, and therefore could not have been used by Jo- 
seph Smith. Fourth, that Hurlburt never produced 



430 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA, 

it, which he would have done if there had been 
any similarity between it and the Book of Mor- 
mon. Fifth, that the supposed identity of a few 
names in the two works depends on the memory 
of an old lady of 74, of what took place when she 
was six years old. 

"Against a mere supposition, unsupported by 
the slightest evidence, of some mysterious connec- 
tion between this manuscript and Joseph Smith — 
who never saw Spaulding or his people — is the tes- 
timony of thousands to whom God has given a 
witness of the truth of the Booh of Mormon, as 
well as the testimony of the eleven who saw and 
handled the plates and of the three who were 
shown them by Divine Power and angelic hands, 
and to whom the voice of God bore record. Need 
anything more be said on the subject? " 

It will be observed that there is a disagreement 
between the statements made by the Spaldings, 
and those made by Howe and Hurlbut. We are 
inclined to the opinion that the former were mis- 
taken, and that the facts, as related by the latter, 
are substantially correct. Recent developments 
go to show this. Though whether Hurlbut did or 
did not obtain t\ie3Ianuscript Found, and bring it to 
Ohio, has but little bearing on the main question— 
which the next chapter will show. 



THE ISFALDINQ WITNESSES. 431 

CHAPTER XLHI. 

THE SPALDING WITNESSES. 

Statement of John Spalding — Of Maetha Spalding — Of 
Hext.y Lake — John K". Miller — A aeon Wright — Olive 
Smith — Nahiim Howard— Artemus Cunningham. 

Howe's book, Mormonism Unveiled, is the work 
referred to by Johnson. Hurlbut had, in addition 
to his labor of procuring Spalding's manuscript, 
also gone among his old friends and neighbors 
about Conneaut, and procured a number of testi- 
monials from them. These were published in 
Howe's book. As they relate to the main features 
of the controversy, and as that valuable work is 
long since out of print, there can be no apology 
needed for their introduction here. It will be 
remembered that they were obtained in 1833, about 
seventeen years after Solomon Spalding's death, 
three years only after the publication of the BooL 
of Mormon, and about twenty years after Manu- 
script Found had been written. 

John Spalding, 
The brother of Solomon Spalding, says, after detail- 
ing incidents of his brother's youth, etc. : 

'' . . . In a few years he failed in business, 
and in the year 1809 removed to Conneaut, in 



432 THE TBOFHET OF PALMYRA. 

Ohio. The year following I removed to Ohio, and 
found him engaged in building a forge. I made 
him a visit in about three years after ; and found 
that he had failed, and was considerably involved 
in debt. He then told me he had been writing a 
book, which he intended to have printed, the avails 
of which he thought would enable him to pay all 
his debts. The book was entitled the Manuscript 
Founds of which he read to me many passages. 
It was an historical romance of the first settlers of 
America, endeavoring to show that the American 
Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or lost 
tribes. It gave a detailed account of their journey 
from Jerusalem, by land and sea, till they arrived 
in America, under the command of Nephi and 
Lehi. They afterwards had quarrels and conten- 
tions, and separated into two distinct nations, one 
of which he denominated Nephites and the other 
Lamanites. Cruel and bloody wars ensued, in 
which great multitudes were slain. They buried 
their dead in large heaps , which caused the mounds 
so common in this country. Their arts, sciences 
and civilization were brought into view, in order to 
account for all the curious antiquities, found in 
various parts of North and South America. I have 
recently read the Booh of Mormon^ and to my 
great surprise I find nearly the same historical mat- 
ter, names, etc., as they were in my brother's 
writings. I well remember that he wrote in the 
old style, and commenced about every sentence 
with * and it came to pass,' or « now it came to 
pass,' the same as in the Booh of Mormon ; and 
according to my best recollection and belief, it is 
the same as my brother Solomon wrote, with the 
exception of the religious matter. By what means 
it has fallen into the hands of Joseph Smith, Jr., I 
am unable to determine. 

** John Spalding." 



THE SPALDING WITNESSES. 433 

]\Iartha Spalding, 

The wife of John Spalding, says : 

*' I was personally acquainted with Solomon 
Spalding about twenty years ago. I was at his 
house a short time before he left Conneaut ; he 
was then writing a historical novel founded upon 
the first settlers of America. He represented them 
as an enlightened and war-like people. He had for 
many years contended that the aborigines of Amer- 
ica were the descendants of some of the lost tribes 
of Israel, and this idea he carried out in the book 
in question. The lapse of time which has inter- 
vened, prevents my recollecting but few of the 
leading incidents of his writings ; but the names of 
Nephi and Lehi are yet fresh in my memory, as being 
the principal heroes of his tale. They were officers 
of the company which first came ofi'from Jerusalem. 
He gave a particular account of their journey by 
land and sea, till they arrived in America, after 
which disputes arose between the chiefs, which 
caused them to separate into different bands, one of 
which was called Lamanites and the other Nephites. 
Between these were recorded tremendous battles, 
which frequently covered the ground with the slain ; 
and their being buried in large heaps was the cause 
of the numerous mounds in the country. Some of 
Ihese people he represented as being very large. I 
hiwe read the Book of Mormon^ which has 
I'rought fresh to my recollection the writings of 
Solomon Spalding ; and I have no manner of doubt 
that the historical part of it is the same that I read 
and heard, more than twenty years ago. The old, 
obsolete style, and the phrases of ' and it came to 
pass,' etc., are the same. 

" Martha Spalding." 



434 THE FBOFEET OF FALMYBA. 

Henry Lake's Stateihent. 

<« Conneaut, Ashtabula Co., O., 

''September, 1833, 

< * I left the State of New York late in the year 
1810, and arrived at this place about the first of 
January following. Soon after my arrival I formed 
a copartnership with Solomon Spalding, for the 
purpose of rebuilding a forge which he had com- 
menced a year or two before. He very frequently 
read to me from a manuscript which he was writing, 
which he entitled the Manuscrij^t Found, and which 
he represented as being found in this town. I 
spent many hours in hearing him read said writings, 
and became well acquainted with its contents. He 
wished me to assist him in getting his production 
printed, alleging that a book of that kind would 
meet with a rapid sale. I designed doing so, but 
the forge not meeting our anticipations, we failed 
in business, when I declined having any thing to 
do with the publication of the book. This book 
represented the American Indians as the descend- 
ants of the lost tribes, gave an account of their 
leaving Jerusalem, their contentions and wars, 
which were man}^ and great. One time, when he 
was reading to me the tragic account of Laban, I 
pointed out to him what I considered an inconsist- 
ency, which he promised to correct ; but by referring 
to the Booh of Mormon, I find to my surprise that 
it stands there just as he read it to me then. Some 
months ago I borrowed the Golden Bible, put it into 
my pocket, carried it home, and thought no more of 
it. About a week after, my wife found the book in 
my coat pocket as it hung up, and commenced read- 
ing it aloud as I la}^ upon the bed. She had not 
read twenty minutes till I was astonished to find 
the same passages in it that Spalding had read to 
me more than twenty years before, from his Man- 



THE SPALDING WITJ^ESSES. 435 

uscrijptFound. Since tliat I have more fully ex- 
amined the said Golden Bible, and have no hesita- 
tion in saying that the historical part of it is prin- 
cipally, if not wholly, taken from the Manuscript 
Found. ' I well recollect telling Mr. Spaulding, 
that the so frequent use of the words ' And it came 
to pass,' * ;N'ow it came to pass,' etc., rendered it 
ridiculous. Spalding left here in 1812, and I fur- 
nished him the means to carry him to Pittsburgh, 
where he said he would get the book printed, 
and pay me. But I never heard any more from 
him or his writings, till I saw them in the Book 
of Mormon. 

*< Henry Lake." 

John N. Miller. 
Springfield^ Pa., September, 1833, 

<« In the year 18111 was in the employ of Henry 
Lake and Solomon Spalding at Conneaut, engaged 
in rebuilding a forge. While there I boarded and 
lodged in the family of said Spalding, for several 
months. I was soon introduced to the manuscripts of 
Spalding, and perused them as often as I had leisure. 
He had written two or three books or pamphlets on 
different subjects ; but that which more particularly 
drew my attention, was one which he called the i¥a?i- 
uscript Found. From this he would frequently read 
some humorous passage to the company present. It 
purported to be the history of the first settlement 
of America before discovered by Columbus. He 
brought them off from Jerusalem under their lead- 
ers ; detailing their travels by land and water, their 
manners, customs, laws, wars, etc. He said that 
he designed it as a historical novel, and that in after 
years it would be believed by many people as much 
as the history of England. He soon after failed 
in business, and told me he should retire from the 



436 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

din of his creditors, finish his book, and have it 
published, which would enable him to pay his debts 
and support his family. He soon after removed to 
Pittsburgh, as I understood. 

I have recently examined the Book of Mormon, 
and find in it the writings of Solomon Spalding, 
from beginning to end, but mixed up with Script- 
ure and other religious matter, which I did not 
meet with in the Manuscript Found. Many of the 
passages in the Mormon book are verbatim from 
Spalding, and others in part. The names of ^^ephi, 
Lehi, Moroni, and, in fact, all the principal names, 
are brought fresh to my recollection by the Gold 
Bible. When Spalding divested his history of its 
fabulous names, by a verbal explanation, he landed 
his people near the straits of Darien, which I am 
very confident he called Zarahemla ; they were 
marched about that country for a length of time, 
in which wars and great bloodshed ensued, — ^he 
brought them across North America in a north-east 
direction. 

*' John N. Miller." 

A AEON Wright's Stateivient. 

Gonneaut, August, 1833, 
* ' I first became acquainted with Solomon Spalding 
in 1808 or '9, when he commenced building a forge 
on Conneaut Creek. When at his house one day, 
he showed and read to me a history he was writing, 
of the lost tribes of Israel, purporting that they 
were the first settlers of America, and that the 
Indians were their descendants. Upon this subject 
we had frequent conversations. He traced their 
journey from Jerusalem to America, as it is given 
in the Booh of Moi^mon, excepting the religious 
matter. The historical part of the Booh of Mor- 
mon I know to be the same as I read and heard 



THE SPALDING WITNESSES. 437' 

read from the writings of Spalding, more than 
twenty years ago ; the names more especially are 
the same without any alteration. He told me his 
object was to account for all the fortifications, etc., 
to be found in this country, and said that in time 
it would be fully believed by all, except learned 
men and historians. I once anticipated reading his 
writings in print, but little expected to see them in 
a new Bible. Spalding had many other mamiscripts, 
which I expect to see when Smith translates his 
other plates. In conclusion, I will observe, that 
the names of, and most of the historical part of the 
BooJc of Mormon, were as familiar to me before 
I read it, as most modern history. If it is not 
Spalding's writing, it is the same as he wrote ; and 
if Smith was inspired, I think it was by the same 
spirit that Spalding was, which he confessed to be 
the love of money. 

** Aakon Weight." 

Oliver Smith. 

Conneaut, August, 1833. 
<* When Solomon Spalding first came to this 
place, he purchased a tract of land, surveyed it out, 
and commenced selling it. While engaged in this 
business, he boarded at my house, in all nearly six 
months. All his leisure hours were occupied in 
writing a historical novel, founded upon the first 
settlers of this country. He said he intended to 
trace their journey from Jerusalem, by land and 
sea, till their arrival in America, give an account 
of their arts, sciences, civilization, wars and con- 
tentions. In this way, he would give a satisfac- 
tory account of all the old mounds, so common in 
this country. During the time he was at my house, 
I read and heard read one hundred pages or more. 
Nephi and Lqhi Avere by him represented as lead- 



438 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

ing characters, when they first started for America. 
Their main object was to escape the judgments 
which they supposed were coming upon the old 
world. But no religious matter w^as introduced, as 
I now recollect. Just before he left this place, 
Spalding sent for me to call on him, which I did. 
He then said, that although he was in my debt, he 
intended to leave the country, and he hoped I 
would not prevent him ; for, says he, you know I 
have been writing the history of the first settlement 
of America, and I intend to go to Pittsburgh, and 
there live a retired life, till I have completed the 
work, and when it is printed, it will bring me a 
fine sum of money, which will enable me to return 
and pay off all my debts — the book, you know, wdll 
sell, as ever}^ one is anxious to learn something 
upon that subject. This was the last I heard from 
Spalding or his book, until the Booh of Mormon 
came into the neighborhood, ^^^len I heard the 
historical part of it related, I at once said it was 
the writings of old Solomon Spalding. Soon after, 
I obtained the book, and on reading it, found much 
of it the same as Spalding had written, more than 
twenty years before. 

** Oliver Smith." 

Nahum Howard. 

Conneaut, August, 1833, 
«' I first became acquainted with Solomon Spald- 
ing in December, 1810. After that time I fre- 
quently saw him at his house, and also at my house. 
I once in conversation with him expressed a sur- 
prise at not having any account of the inhabitants 
once in this country, who erected the old forts, 
mounds, etc. He then told me that he was writing a 
history of that race of people ; and afterwards 
frequently showed me his writings, which I 



THE SPALDING WIT^^'ESSES. 439 

read. I have lately read the Book of Mormon , 
and believe it to be the same as Spalding wrote, 
except the religious part. He told me that he 
intended to get his writings published in Pitts- 
burgh, and he thought in one century from that 
time, it would be believed as much as any other 
history." 

''Nahiim Howard." 

Artemus Cunningham, 

Of Perry, Geauga County, also made a statemep^, 

as follows : 

**In the month of October, 1811, I went from 
the township of Madison to Conneaut, for the pur- 
pose of securing a debt due me from Solomon 
Spalding. I tarried with him nearly two days, for 
the purpose of accomplishing my obj<^.ct, which I 
was finally unable to do. I found him destitute of 
the means of paying his debts. His only hope 
of ever paying his debts, appeared to be upon 
the sale of a book, which he had been writing. He 
endeavored to convince me from the nature and 
character of the work, that it would meet with a 
ready sale. Before showing me his manuscripts, 
he went into a verbal relation of its outlines, saying 
that it was a fabulous or romantic history of the 
first settlement of this country, and as it purported 
to have been a r-gcord found buried in the earth, or 
in a cave, he had adopted the ancient or Scripture 
style of writing. He then presented his manu- 
scrif)ts, when we sat down and spent a good share 
of the night in reading them, and conversing upon 
them. I well remember the name of I^ephi, which 
appeared to be the principal hero of the story. The 
frequent repetition of the phrase ' I, Nephi,' I recol- 
lect as distinctly as though it was but yesterday, 
although the general features of the story have 



440 THE TitOTHET OF PALMYBA, 

passed from my memory, tlirougli the lapse of 
twenty-two years. He attempted to account for 
the numerous antiquities which are found upon 
this continent, and remarked that after this gen- 
eration had passed away, his account of the first 
inhabitants of America would be considered as 
authentic as any other history. The Mormon Bible 
I have partially examined, and am fully of the 
opinion that Solomon Spalding had written its out- 
lines before he left Conneaut." 



LATKU TESTIMOMY, 441 



CHAPTER XLIV. i 

LATER TESTIMONY. 

Joseph Miller's Letter — Abner Jackson's Narrative^ 
"Mere Suppositions " i^s. "God-Given Testimony" — 
The Book's Proper Title — Mr. Patterson — Rev. Win- 
ter — Rigdon's Hand Manifest. 

The Cincinnati Gazette recently contained a let- 
ter from Mr. M. A. Cooper, of Steubenville, Ohio, 
under date of December 9, 1881, which that journal 
prints under the heading of, '* The Book of Mor- 
mon — -One Man in the United States Who Can 
Give its Origin ! " This letter refers to Mr. Joseph 
Miller, of Pennsylvania, as this ''one man," and 
gives report of an interview with him. 

Deeming Mr. Miller's statement concerning Mr. 
Spalding and his romance to be important, the 
writer dispatched to him a note of inquiry, and 
promptly received the following in reply : 

Ten Mile,, Washington Co,, Pa., 

Jan, 20, 1882. 

'* Dear Sir : In answer to yours, I would state 
that I was familiar with Solomon Spalding. I 
worked in Amity, where he lived, and as the fashion 
was at that day, we all assembled at his house in 
the evenmgs (as he kept tavern) , and he frequently 
would read from his manuscript. The work was 



442 THE PEOPHJET OF PALMYBA. 

very odd. The words ' Moreover,' 'And it came 
to pass,' occurred so often that the boys about the 
village called him ' Old Came to Pass.' He told 
me he lived in Ohio when he wrote his manuscript. 
He said he lost his health, and he commenced writ- 
ing a history of the mounds near where he lived, 
or of the people who built them. He afterwards 
removed to Pittsburgh, and kept a little store to 
support his family, and while there he took his 
manuscript to Mr. Patterson, then engaged in a 
publishing house. Mr. Patterson told him if he 
would write a title page he would publish it. He 
left the copy and moved to Amity. He afterwards 
went back to have his MS. published, but it could 
not be found. He said there was a man named 
Sidney Rigdon about the office, and they thought 
he had stolen it. The passage 3^ou refer to, on 
page 148, as Cooper has it, is in reference to being- 
marked with red in their foreheads. 

** * Nephites,' I recollect distinctly, as occuring 
very often ; as to ' Lamanites ' it is not so distinct, — 
and a great many other names that were very odd. 

*« The MS. that I saw, would not, I think, make 
as large a book as the Booh of Mormon. 

' ' Spalding was a very poor man ; during his stay 
at Amity, I was very familiar with him, bailed him 
for money at least twice ; and by request of Spald- 
ing, assisted his wife some in settling up his little 
business — made his coffin and helped lay him in his 
grave. 

" Joseph Millek." 

Mr. Miller's statement is mainly corroborated by 
the following paper, communicated to the Wash- 
ington County (Pa.) Historical Society, by Mr. 
Abner Jackson, of Canton, Ohio — forwarded to us 
under date of March 27, 1882, in the Washington 



LATEli TESTIMONY. 443 

Reporter, by Rev. L. Axtell, of Pike Run, in that 
county. This venerable writer's contribution gives 
particulars of the life of Spalding not to be found 
elsewhere, and confirms most of the material points 
mentioned by others. Evidently written with care, 
and with a view to the truth of history, we deem it 
worthy of a place entire in these pages : 

*' Canton, Ohio, Dec, 20, 1880. 
«« Mr. John AiJcen, Esq. : 

** I here send you the document you solicited so 
long ago. You see, though a long time coming, 
that it is poorly written ; but I am too old to do it 
very well. I hope you will be able to read it. 
You probably have seen Mrs. McKinstry's state- 
ment in Scrihner's Monthly (already published in 
the Washington Reporter. — Eds.) for August, 1880. 
I wish to say that I have not seen her or had any 
intelligence from her, since they left Conneaut. If 
any should think we have conferred in any way to 
make out a case of plagiarism against Joseph Smith, 
let them know that so far as we are concerned, we 
are now perfect strangers. I did not know that she 
was living until I heard, as stated in the accompany- 
ing paper. If so many errors had not been pub- 
lished there would be no necessity for this state- 
ment. When contradicting statements are published, 
people often say, one is wrong, maybe neither is 
right, and so ignore both. Mrs. McKinstry says 
that her father's iron works was a foundry. This 
was the little girl's view of it. It was a forge of 
the old type. Iron was made from ore under a 
trip hammer, as there were no rollers in this coun- 
try at that time. But this is not essential, and has 
nothing to do with Mormonism. 

'< If my statement is not published, please return 



444 THE PBOFHET OF PALMTFcA, 

it to me as soon as convenient. Please inform me 
if you receive this. I am not anxious for myself at 
all, but if it can do anything for those entangled by 
the delusion, it cannot be published too quickly. 
I hope your Historical Society may prosper and do 
much good. 

** Yours truly, 

'<Abner Jackson." 

Abner Jackson's Statement. 

* « It is a fact well established that the book called the 
Booh of Mormon, had its origin from a romance that 
was written by Solomon Spaulding, in Conneaut, 
a small village in Ashtabula Coimty, Ohio, about 
A.D. 1812. Spaulding was a highly educated man 
about six feet high, of rather slender build, with a 
dark complexion, black eyes, black hair, rather slow 
of speech, never trifling, pleasant in conversation, 
but seldom laughing aloud. His deportment was 
grave and dignified in society, and he was much 
respected by those of his acquaintance. He was a 
clergyman of the Presb}i;erian order, and for a time 
a settled pastor in the city of Xew York. So said 
his brother John Spaulding and others in the neigh- 
borhood, who heard him preach. It was said that 
failing health caused him to resign the pastorate. 
He then came to Richfield, Otsego County, Xew 
York, and started a store, near where my father 
lived, about the beginning of the present century. 

" Spaulding contracted for large tracts of land 
along the shore of Lake Erie, on each side of the 
State line, in both Pennsylvania and Ohio. My 
father exchanged with him, the farm on which he 
lived in Otsego County, New York, for land in 
Erie County, Pa., where the town of Albion now 
stands, and moved on it a.d., 1805. , It was then 
a dense forest. Shortly after my father moved, 
Spaulding sold his store in Richfield, and moved to 



LATER TESTIMONY. 445 

Conneaut, Ashtabula County, Ohio, and built a 
forge on Conneaut Creek, two miles from Conneaut 
Harbor, and two miles from the State line. In 
l)uilding this he failed, sold out, and about the 
beginning of the year 1812, commenced to write 
his famous romance called by him the Manuscript 
Found, 

*' This romance, Mr. Spaulding brought with him 
on a visit to my father, a short time before he 
moved from Conneaut to Pittsburgh. At that 
time I was confined to the nouse with a lame 
knee, and so I was in company with them and 
heard the conversation that passed between them. 
Spaulding read much of his manuscript to my father, 
and in conversation with him, explained his views 
of the old fortifications in this country, and told his 
romance. A note in Morse's GeogTaphy suggested 
it as a possibilit}^ that our Indians were descendants 
of the lost tribes of Israel. Said Morse, they 
might have wandered through Asia up to Behring's 
Strait, and across the Strait to this continent. Be- 
sides there were habits and ceremonies among them 
that resembled some habits and ceremonies amono- 

o 

the Israelites of that day. Then the old fortifica- 
tions and earth mounds, containing so many kinds 
of relics and human bones, and some of them so 
large, altogether convinced him that they were a 
larger race and more enlightened and civilized than 
are found among the Indians among us at this day. 
These facts and reflections prompted him to write 
his Eomance, purporting to be a history of the lost 
tribes of Israel. 

'<■ He begins with their departure from Palestine, 
or Judea, then up through Asia, points out their 
exposures, hardships, and sufl^erings, also their dis- 
putes and quarrels, especially wheii they built their 
craft for passing over the Straits. Then after their 
landing he gave an account of their divisions and 



446 THE PROPHE'T OF PALMYBA. 

subdivisions under different leaders, but two par- 
ties controlled the balance. One of them was called 
the Righteous, worshipers and servants of God. 
These organized with prophets, priests, and teachers, 
for the education of their children, and settled down 
to cultivate the soil, and to a life of civilization. The 
others were Idolaters. They contended for a life 
of idleness ; in short, a wild, wicked, savage life. 

" They soon quarrelled, and then commenced 
war anew, and continued to fight, except at very 
short intervals. Sometimes one party was success- 
ful and sometimes the other, until finally a terrible 
battle was fought, which was conclusive. All the 
lighteous were slain, except one, and he was Chief 
Prophet and Recorder. He was notified of the de- 
feat in time by Divine authority ; told where, when, 
and how to conceal the record, and He would take 
care that it should be preseiwed, and brought to 
light again at the proper time, for the benefit of 
mankind. So the Recorder professed to do, and 
then submitted to his fate. I do not remember 
what that fate was. He was left alone of his party. 
I do not remember that anything more was said of 
him. 

' ' Spaulding's romance professed to find the Record 
where the Recorder concealed it, in one of those 
mounds , one of which was but a few rods from Spauld- 
ing's residence. Soon after this visit, Spauldmg 
moved to Pittsburgh, and took his manuscript to 
the Pittsburgh Gazette office, intending to have it 
printed, but in this he failed. My brother, J. J. 
Jackson, was a recruiting officer in the U. S. Army, 
and stationed at Pittsburgh at that time. Being 
well acquainted with Spaulding and his lady he soon 
found them, and in his letters home would inform 
us how they were getting along. The last account 
he gave us of them was that he was selling pictures 
and she was sewing up clothing for the soldiers. 



LATEB TESTUfONY. 447 

The next we heard of them was by report. Spauld- 
ing moved to Amity, Washmgton county, Pa., and 
soon after died and was buried there. His wife and 
daughter went to her brother, Lawyer Sabine, 
Onondaga Valley, Onondaga Co., N. Y. When I 
was returning from Clarksburg, W. Ya. , to my home 
in New Brighton, Beaver Co., Pa., a. d., 1840, I 
passed through Amity, hunted the grave of Spauld- 
ing and copied from the headstone the following 
inscription;* 

' In INIemory of 
Solomon Spauldiug, who departed this life Oct. 20th, 
A. D., 1816. Aged 55 years. 

' Kind cherubs guard the sleeping clay, 
Until the great decision day, 

And saints complete in glory rise, 
To share the triumph of the skies.' 

* * Spauldiug frequently read his manuscript to the 
neighbors and amused them as he progressed with 
his work. He wrote it in Bible style. ' And it 
came to pass' occurred so often that some called 
him ' old come to pass.' 

'' So much for Spaulding's romance ; now for the 
Booh of Mormon. 

* ' The first account of the Booh of Mormon that 
I saw, was a notice in my father's newspaper, 
stating that Joseph Smith, Jr., professed having 
dreamed that an angel had appeared to him and told 
him to go and search in a place he named in Pal- 

* The headstone which marked Mr. Spakling's grave, and 
■which bore the above inscription, has almost if not altogether 
disappeared, through the ravages of time and relic hunters. It 
is due to the memory of Mr. Spalding, who was the innocent 
cause of the stupendous fraud of Mormonism, and also to the 
truth of history, that this tomb-stone be replaced by a suitable 
and substantial monument bearing the original inscription, to- 
gether with such other legends as may perpetuate the memory 
of the origin of the greatest imposture of the century. The 
Christian Church owes it to its own vindication, that such a 
monument be erected. The Historical Society should also 
assist in perpetuating a local incident. 



U8 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

myra, N. Y., and he would find a gold-leaf Bible. 
Smith was incredulous and did not go until the 
second or third time he dreamed the same dream. 
Then he said he went, and, to his surprise, he found 
the golden Bible, according to his dreams. But it 
was wi'itten in a language so ancient that none could 
be found able either to read it or tell in what lan- 
guage it was written. Some time after another 
statement appeared, that an angel had consented to 
read and interpret it to Joseph Smith, and he should 
report it to a third person, who should write it in 
plain English, so that all might read the new Bible 
and understand its import. Some time after, in 
1830, the book was published at Palmja-a, N. Y., 
called a JSfew Revelation ; the Book of Mormon, 
This purports to be a history of the lost tribes of 
the Children of Israel. It begins with them just 
where the romance did, and it follows the romance 
very closely. It is true there are some verbal alter- 
ations and additions, enlarging the production some- 
what, without changing its main features. The Booh 
of Mormon follows the romance too closely to 
be a stranger. In both, many persons appear hav- 
ing the same name ; as Maroni, Mormon, Nephites, 
Moroni, Lama, Lamanite, Nephe, and others. 

"Here then we are presented with Romance, 
second, called the Book of Mormon, telling the same 
story of the same people, traveling from the same 
plain, in the same way, having the same difficulties 
and destination, with the same wars, same battles, 
and same results, with thousands upon thousands 
slain. Then see the Mormon account of the last 
battle, at Cumorah, where all the righteous were 
slain. They were called the Xephites, the others 
were called Lamanites (see Moroni's account of the 
closing scene) ' and now it came to pass that a great 
battle was fought at Cumorah. The Lamanites 
slew all the Nephites' (except Moroni) , and he said 



LATER TESTIMONY. 449 

< I will write up and hide the Kecorder in the earth, 
and whither I go it mattereth not . ' — Book of Mormon , 
page 344, third American edition. How much this 
resembles the closing scene in the Manuscrijpt Found. 
The most singular part of the whole matter is, that 
it follows the romance so closely, with this differ- 
ence : the first claims to be a romance ; the second 
claims to be a revelation of God, a new Bible ! 
When it was brought to Conneaut and read there 
in public, old Esq. Wright heard it, and exclaimed, 
* ' * Old come to pass " has come to life again.' Here 
w^as the place where Spalding wrote and read his 
manuscript to the neighbors for their amusement 
and 'Squire Wright had often heard him read from 
his Romance. This was in 1832, sixteen years after 
Spalding's death. This 'Squire Wright lived on a 
farm just outside of the little village. I was ac- 
quainted with him for twenty -five years. I lived 
on his farm when I was a boy and attended school 
in the village . I am particular to notice these things 
to show that I had an opportunity of knowing 
what I am writing about. 

'« After I commenced writing this article, I heard 
that an article in Scrihner^s Monthly, for August, 
1880, on the Boole of Mormon, contained a note and 
affidavit of Mrs. Matilda S. McKinstry, Solomon 
Spaulding's only child, stating that she remembered 
her father's romance. I sent at once for the 
Monthly, and on the 613, 614, 615 and 616 pages, 
found the article and her testimony. Her statement 
from the commencement, until they moved to Pitts- 
burgh, in all essential particulars I know to be true. 
She relates those acts as they occurred to my own 
personal knowledge, though she was then a little 
girl. She is now about seventy-five years of age. 

' * I stated before that I knew nothing of Spauld- 
ing after he moved to Pittsburgh, except by letters 
and newspapers. He soon moved to Amity, Wash- 



THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 450 

( 
ington County, Pa., and shortly after this he died 
and his wife went to her brother's. His daughter's 
account of the deceitful method by which Hurlburt 
gained possession of and retained Spaulding's man- 
uscript, is, I think, important and should not be 
lost sight of. She was no child then. I think she 
has done her part well in the vindication of the truth 
by her unvarnished statement of what she remem- 
bered of her father's romance. I have not seen 
her since she was a little girl, but I have seen both 
of these productions, heard Spaulding read much of 
his romance to my father and explain his views and 
reasons for writing it. I also have seen and read 
the Book of Mormon^ and it follows Spaulding's ro- 
mance too closely to be anything else than a bor- 
rowed production from the romance. I think that 
Mrs. McKinstry's statement fills a gap in my ac- 
count from Spalding's removal to Pittsburgh, to the 
death of his wife in 1844. I wish, if my statement 
is published that hers also be published with it, 
that the truth may be vindicated by the truth be- 
yond any reasonable doubt. 
" (Signed) 

* ' Abner Jackson. 
** Canton, Ohio, Dec. 20, 1880." 

The foregoing array of evidence in support of 
the theory that the Book of Mormon was based on 
Spalding's romance, is about all that we care to 
introduce, though more is at hand. And this is 
what the Salt Lake editor calls a ' ' mere supposi- 
tion " of some ' ' mysterious connection between the 
manuscript and Joseph Smith." That there was a 
mysterious connection is not doubted ; indeed, it is 
directly and very pointedly affirmed by these people. 



LATER TESTIMONY. 461 

What that connection was may yet be shown. 
These people do not bolster up their story by an 
array of <* angels " and '* heavenly messengers," 
but by plain, honest, common-sense averment ; and 
hence will not be so readil}'^ believed by some ; but 
their story will carry conviction to every well- 
balanced human intellect. 

But the Salt Lake editor further assures us that 
there is an additional ' ' God-given testimony " of 
thousands in support of Smith's claim ; which testi- 
mony, when interpreted, means simply the mental 
ability to believe Smith's absurd and impossible 
story. Just such '* God-given testimony" has been 
marshalled in support of every silly and ridiculous 
delusion since the world began. 

Reader, let us bring together the points of the 
foregoing narrations, and examine their bearing. 
That Rev. Solomon Spalding did reside at Conneaut, 
Ohio, between the years 1808 and 1814, is made as 
clear as human testimony can make it. That while 
there he wrote several manuscript books, is also 
fully established. That he died in Pennsylvania in 
1816, leaving these manuscripts behind him, cannot 
be disputed. That one of these manuscripts was en- 
titled Manuscript Found, while the titles of the 
others were not known, is also clearly established. 
The Mormons themselves do not deny it. No 
writer anywhere, or of any class, that we are aware 



452 THE FBOPIIET OF FALMYBA, 

of, has ever denied any of these propositions. The 
facts are palpable and would not be more clearly 
evident, were the manuscripts themselves brought 
to light. If, then, Mr. Spalding wrote a work so 
entitled, it must have been about something — it 
must have had some specific characteristics. What 
were they? All his friends and neighbors agree 
that he had a lively imagination ; that he was much 
interested in the discoveries that had been made 
near his residence, indicating the existence of a 
pre-historic race of people in America ; that he 
thought, talked, and wrote much upon that theme, 
and read portions of his writings to his neighbors 
and friends. 

And now — no, not now — ^but more than fifty 
years ago, and only seventeen years after his death 
— come a number of these neighbors and friends, and 
say that this book — ^this Manuscript Founds the ex- 
istence of which no one has ever denied — contained 
the names of " Nephi," '' Lehi," ''Moroni," 
<'Laban," ''Nephites," "Lamanites," ''Zarahem- 
la," and others ; that its theme was the history of 
a supposed race of Jewish emigrants and their de- 
scendants in America ; that it was ridiculously full 
of such phrases as "And it came to pass," "I, 
Nephi," " Lo, and behold," etc. ; that it was writ- 
ten in Biblical style, and that it abounded in de- 
scriptions of great wars and battles between the 



LATER TESTIMONY, 453 

contending tribes. These statements are made with 
great unanimity, and no apparent attempt at collu- 
sion, by men and women who could have had no 
object but truth and justice in view. Eeader, take 
up the Book of Mormon — ' ' Wherefore it is an 
abridgement of the Eecord of the People of Nephi, 
and also of the Lamanites" — and see if you can find 
in it any emanations from Eev. Spalding's imagin- 
ative mind. See if you can recognize any of the 
names these friends of his remember so well — and 
which were never before found in any other book. 
See if you can recall any of the themes, the his- 
torical allusions, the phrases, they so minutely par- 
ticularize. In the language of the Salt Lake editor, 
''What more need be said?" " Lo, and behold," 
"verily," its title, instead of the "confusion of 
language " used by Smith, Eigdon, Cowdery & Co., 
should have read : 

''THE MANUSCRIPT FOUND," 

A Romance, 

Written by Rev. Solomon Spalding, of Conneaut, 

Long Since Deceased ; 

Ohio, 

Stolen, Mutilated, Enlarged, 

And Rendered More Riduculous, 

In Order to Make it INIore Likely to be Accepted 

by Gulls, 

as a 

Message From Heaven. 

'' And now, if there be fault, it be the mistake of " 

SOME CRANKS. 



454 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

It can make little difference, therefore, if it 
should be never fully ascertained how, or in what 
manner, or by whom, that Manuscrijpt Found came 
into those men's hands. The fact stands out boldly, 
clearly, that it was there ; that it was this Spald- 
ing romance, or a fraudulent copy of it, and not 
golden plates, from which the embryo prophet was 
pretending to translate during the years 1827-8-9. 
Whether it came to him through Rigdon's hands, as 
believed by the Spalding family, or through Cow- 
dery's, or Parley P. Pratt's, is of little consequence, 
except as to gratify curiosity, and need not, per- 
haps, be further inquired into. There were five 
men who bore conspicuous parts in bringing this 
Booh of Mormon, before the public ; any one of 
whom may have obtained the manuscript. Its ap- 
plication and working up was evidently the labor 
of Sidney Rigdon chiefly. Two of these men, Smith 
and Harris, may never have been in Northern 
Ohio, previous to 1827 ; Cowdery, Pratt, and Rig- 
don had all been there, in the vicinity of where 
Spalding had resided. 

The Spalding family all believed that Rigdon had 
obtained the MS. and copied it, while it remained 
in the office of Patterson & Lambdin at Pittsburgh. 
From Joseph Miller's latest letter it would seem, 
that even in Rev. Spalding's life-time the impression 
prevailed that Rigdon had obtained the manuscript. 



LATER TESTIMONY. 455 

The Mormons vehemently deny that Eigdon was 
ever a printer, or about said Patterson's office. 

Robert Patterson, Esq., the capable editor of the 
Pittsburgh Presbyterian Banner^ and son of the 
Rev. Robert Patterson alluded to, has lately given 
the subject much attention. In a very lucid and 
searching paper from his pen, communicated to the 
Washington County Historical Society, we find the 
following, bearing on Patterson's possession of the 
manipscript : 

*« On being applied to in 1842, by Rev. Samuel 
W^illiams, who was preparing for publication a 
pamphlet entitled Mormonism Exposed^ Mr. Pat- 
terson wrote the following brief certificate, which 
we copy in full from Mr. Williams' pamphlet : 

<**R. Patterson had in his employment Silas 
Engles at the time, a foreman printer, and general 
superintendent of the printing business. As he 
(S. E.) was an excellent scholar, as well as a good 
printer, to him was entrusted the entire concerns of 
the office. He even decided on the propriety or 
otherwise of publishing manuscripts when offered, 
— as to their morality , scholarship , etc . In this char- 
acter he informed R. P. that a gentleman from the 
East originally, had put into his hands a manu- 
script of a singular work, chiefly in the style of our 
English translation of the Bible, and handed the 
copy to R. P., who read only a few pages, and 
finding nothing apparently exceptionable, he(R. P.) 
said to Engles he might publish it, if the author 
furnished the funds or good security. He (the 
author) failing to comply with the terms, Mr Eno-les 
returned the manuscript, as I supposed at that time. 



456 TRE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

after it had been some weeks in his possession with 
other manuscripts in the office. 

** < This communication written and signed 2d 
April, 1842. 

" ' Robert Patteeson.'" 

From Mr. Patterson's pamphlet, we also quote 
the following : 

" Rev. John Winter, M. D., was one of the early 
ministers of the Baptist Church, laboring in West- 
ern Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. During a por- 
tion of the time when Sidney Rigdon was pastor of 
the First Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Dr. Winter 
was teaching a school in the same city, and was well 
acquainted with Rigdon. Upon one occasion, dur- 
ing this period, 1822-23, Dr. Winter was in Rig- 
don's study, when the latter took from his desk a 
large manuscript, and said in substance, 'A Pres- 
byterian minister, Spalding, whose health had failed, 
brought this to the printer to see if it would pay 
to publish it. It is a romance of the Bible.' Dr. 
Winter did not read any part of it, and paid no more 
attention to it until after the Book of Mormon ap- 
peared, when he heard that Mr. Spalding's widow 
recognised in it the writings of her husband. . . . 
Mrs. Mar}^ W. Irvine, a daughter of Dr. Winter, 
writes from Sharon, Pa., April 5, 1881, as follows : 
' I have frequently heard my father speak of Rig- 
don having Spalding's MS. and that he had gotten 
it from the printers to read as a curiosity ; as such 
he showed it to father ; and that at that time Rig- 
don had an intention of making the use of it that 
he afterwards did ; for father always said Rigdon 
helped Smith in his scheme, by re^dsing and making 
the Mormon Bible out of Rev. Sjoalding's manu- 
script.' " 

The foregoing citations would seem conclusive in 



LATEB TESTIMONY. 457 

fixing the fraud upon Sidney Rigdon ; and notwith- 
standing his and all the other Mormon denials, and 
the apparent want of agreement among Spalding's 
friends, we feel sure that an intelligent and discern- 
ing public, will forever hold it. And here we let 
the matter rest. 



458 THM PSOFKET OF PALMYMA. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

AFTER FIFTY YEARS. 

A Strange Discovery — A Spalding MS. Found in Hono- 
lulu — A God-Send to the Mormons — A False Impres- 
sion — Not the ' ' Manuscript Found " — Op No Historic 
Value — Mr. Patterson's Closing Tribute. 

And now comes one of the most remarkable fea- 
tures of this much discussed and remarkable story. 
A short time ago President Fairchild of Oberlin 
College, Ohio, was on a visit with friends residing 
at Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands. While at the 
home of Mr. L. L. Rice, an American citizen there, 
he became interested in some documents which had 
many years before accumulated in the latter's pos- 
session, and which had been brought with him from 
Ohio, his former residence. 

One of those old and long-neglected manuscripts 
on examination proved to be one of Rev. Spalding's 
romances — to the great astonishment of both those 
gentlemen. The fact was soon made public here 
in the States, and was seized upon and heralded to 
the world by the newspapers, as a discovery of the 
long lost Manuscript Found of "Rey, Solomon Spald- 
ing, and the original of the Book of Mormon. The 
manuscript (after discussion as to the proper dis- 



AFTEli FIFTY YEABS, 450 

position to be made of it) , was deposited by Mr. 
Rice in the college library at Oberlin. Various 
extracts from its pages, bearing no resemblance to 
the matter of the BooJc of Mormon, have been pub- 
lished ; and the conclusion has been quite general 
that the Spalding story was a fallacy. The Mor- 
mons themselves have regarded the discovery as a 
God-send, and have lost no time in announcing to 
their readers this marvelous refutation of their 
enemies' falsehoods. Both the Salt Lake and the 
Reconstructed branches, it is stated, have procured 
copies of the work for publication. The former we 
have not seen ; but the latter, issued with much 
apparent satisfaction, and neatly printed in pamph- 
let form at Lamoni, Iowa, under authority of the 
church — now lies before us. It professes to be a 
true and exact copy of the original, and certified to 
as such ; yet its very first line is a falsehood ! It 
entitles the book The Manuscript Found of Solomon 
Spalding, when no such title is found anywhere on 
or in the work. The nearest approach to it is the 
attestation of Dr. Hurlbut on the fly-leaf, as fol- 
lows : 

" The writings of Solomon Spalding, as proved 
by Henry Lake, John N. Miller, Aaron Wright and 
others. 

*' D. P. HUKLBUT." 

Thus showing conclusively that it is the manu- 



460 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA, 

uscript obtained by the doctor and brought to Howe 
in 1834. Besides, it can be traced directly from 
Howe to Rice — the latter having purchased the 
Painesville Telegrajph a year or two after Howe's 
book was printed, with the printing office and all 
its contents. Howe lost track of the manuscript, 
and supposed it might have been destroyed in a fire 
in his office, when, in fact, it had been delivered 
with other waste matter to his successor, and by 
him, very strangely, instead of being destroyed, 
carried to Honolulu. That it is the same manu- 
script is also shown by another circumstance. It 
will be remembered that Howe, in his book, refers 
to a letter obtained with the manuscript indicating 
that Spalding had imbibed "infidel" opinions. 
Strange enough, that same letter is still with the 
MS., as found in Honolulu. Again, the contents 
of this newly-found manuscript, as described by 
those having access to it, are identical with those 
ascribed to it by Howe. So that the evidence is 
clear : 

*« 1. That this newly-discovered work is really 
one of Spalding's romances. 

** 2. That it is the identical one referred to by 
Howe in his Mormonism Unveiled, and which he re- 
ceived from Hurlbut, and Hurlbut from the Spald- 
ings, in 1833. 

** 3. That it is not the romance Tcnown as Manu- 
script Found, and bears no resemblance to it. 

** 4. And consequently — that it can bring nG 



AFTER FIFTY TEAnS. 461 

comfort to the Mormons, in disproof of the'* Spald- 
ing Story." 

Mr. Patterson, in closing his valuable little book 
on the subject, thus eloquently refers to Mr. Spald- 
ing and his work : 

« * It is scarcely necessary to say that Spalding 
himself must be acquitted of all intention to deceive, 
even though four of the hearers of his romance as 
read by him have attested his singular presentiment 
— was it prescience? — that in after years his ro- 
mance would be accepted by thousands as veritable 
history. But even he could not have foreseen that 
this coinage of his brain would ever pass current 
as having been enstamped by the authority of 
heaven. The unconscious prophet of a new Islam, 
in all his imaginings he did not dream that his hand 
was outlining the Koran of a dark delusion ; that 
the fables which beguiled his restless hours would 
be accepted by hundreds of thousands of his fellow- 
men as the oracles of God ; and that in inglorious 
yet heroic martyrdom some of them would even 
seal with their blood their faith in the inspiration 
of his phantasies. Journeying to Pittsburgh in 
1812, with the sanguine hope of soon seeing his 
romance in print, it never entered his mind that in 
three-score years and ten thereafter, the shades of 
Laman and Xephi, of Mormon and Moroni, evoked 
by his magic wand from the sepulchral mounds of 
Conneaut, — ^the graves of a long-forgotten race, — 
would be stalking over two hemispheres, and would 
be leading through the very city of his sojourn their 
myriad victims of deception to distant homes of 
wretchedness and shame. Struggling to escape the 
burden of his debts, he little imagined how vast the 
burden he was about unwittingly to lay upon his 
country. 



462 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

" Sleep on, humble dreamer, in thy lowly bed! 
Thy fond desire to win a public hearing for thy 
wondrous story was denied thee in thy toilsome 
life. Thou knewest not that a strange immortality 
awaited it and thee. Rest peacefully, for from thine 
eye, which sought to penetrate the past alone, this 
saddest of future visions was mercifully withheld. 
Surely never hitherto have passed such sorrowful 
processions near the grave of so innocent an author 
of their woe." 



With this we conclude the review of the sense- 
less gold-laden story. No one really believes it. 
Even its originators, its eleven witnesses, and their 
immediate followers, had no abiding faith in it, else 
Cumorah Hill would ere this have been prospected 
from base to crown, in search of those other pre- 
cious relics said to have been hid away by the angel. 
Yet its influence has been far-reaching. It has 
continued to grow, agitating and disturbing every 
community into which it has made its way, until it 
now curses half a^ continent. But it is on the 
wane ; and ere the twentieth century ends, the 
Story of the Golden Message will have faded from 
men's memories. 



NAVVOO CHABTEB. 463 



CHAPTEE XLVL 

NAUVOO CHARTER. 
An AcxO-ro Incoeporate the City of Nauvoo. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the People of the 
State of Illinois^ represented in the General Assem- 
bly, That all that district of country embraced within 
the following boundaries, to wit : [long description 
of boundaries.^ 

Sec. 2. Whenever any tract of land adjoining 
the city of Nauvoo shall have been laid out into 
town lots, and duly recorded according to law, the 
same shall form a part of the city of Kauvoo. 

Sec. 3. The inhabitants of said city, by the name 
and style aforesaid, shall have power to sue and be 
sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be de- 
fended, in all coui'ts of law and equity, and in all 
actions whatsoever ; to purchase, receive and hold 
property, real and personal, in said city ; to pur- 
chase, receive and hold real property be^^ond the 
city for burying ground, or for other public pur- 
poses, for the use of the inhabitants of said city ; 
to sell, lease, convey or dispose of property, real 
and personal, for the benefit of the city ; to im- 
prove and protect such property, and to do all 
other things in relation thereto as natural persons. 

Sec. 4. There shall be a City Council to consist 
of Mayor, four Aldermen and nine Councillors, who 
shall have the qualifications of electors of said city, 
and shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof, 
and shall hold their offices for two years, and until 
their successors shall be elected and qualified. The 



464 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

City Council sliall jadge of the qualifications, elec- 
tions and returns of their own members, and a 
majority of them shall form a quorum to do business ; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, 
and compel the attendance of absent members, under 
such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance. 

Sec. 5. The Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors, 
before entering upon the duties of their offices, shall 
take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, that they 
will support the Constitution of the United States 
and of this State ; and that they will well and truly 
perform the duties of their offices to the best of 
their skill and abilities. 

Sec. 6. On the first Monday of February next, 
and every two years thereafter, an election 
shall be held for the election of one Mayor, four 
Aldermen and nine Councillors ; and at the first 
election under this act, three judges shall be chosen 
viva voce by the electors present, the said judges 
shall choose two clerks, and the judges and 
clerks before entering upon their duties, sliall take 
and subscribe an oath or affirmation, such as is 
now required by law to be taken by judges and 
clerks of other elections ; and at all subsequent 
elections the necessary number of judges and 
clerks shall be appointed by the City Council. 
At the first election so held the polls shall be 
opened at nine o'clock, a. m., and closed at six 
o'clock, p. M. ; at the close of the polls the votes 
shall be counted, and a statement thereof proclaimed 
at the front door of the house at which such elec- 
tion shall be held ; and the clerks shall leave with 
each person elected, or at his usual place of resi- 
dence within five days after the election, a written 
notice of his election, and each person so notified, 
shall within ten days after the election, take the 
oath or affirmation hereinbefore mentioned, a cer- 
tificate of which oath shall be deposited with the 



NAUVOO CHABTEB, 4.Q>b 

Recorder, whose appointment is hereafter provided 
for, and be by him preserved ; and all subsequent 
elections shall be held, conducted, and returns 
thereof made, as ma}^ be provided for by the ordi- 
nances of the City Council. 

Sec. 7. All free white male inhabitants, who are 
of the age of twenty-one years, who are entitled to 
vote for State officers, and who shall have been 
actual residents of said city sixty daj^s next pre- 
ceding said election, shall be entitled to vote for 
city officers. 

Sec. 8. The City Council shall have authority 
to levy and collect taxes for city purposes, upon 
all property, real and personal, within the limits of 
the city, not exceeding one half per cent, per 
annum upon the assessed value thereof, and may 
enforce the payment of the same in any manner 
to be provided by ordinance, not repugnant to 
the Constitution of the United States, or of this 
State, 

Sec. 9. The City Council shall have power to 
appoint a Recorder, Treasurer, Assessor, Marshal, 
Supervisor of Streets, and all such other officers as 
may be necessary, and to prescribe their duties, and 
remove them from office at pleasure. 

Sec. 10. The City Council shall have power to 
require of all officers, appointed in pursuance of 
this act, bonds with penalty and security, for the 
faithful performance of their respective duties, such 
as may be deemed expedient ; and also to require 
all officers appointed as aforesaid, to take an oath 
for the faithful performance of the duties of their 
respective offices. 

Sec. 11. The City Council shall have power and 
authority to make, ordain, establish, and execute 
all such ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, or of this State, as they 
may deem necessary for the benefit, peace, good 



4:66 THE PBOPSET OF PALMTBA, 

order, regulation, convenience and cleanliness of 
said city ; for the protection of property therein 
from destruction by fire or otherwise, and for the 
health and happiness thereof; they shall have power 
to fill all vacancies that may happen by death, 
resignation or removal, in any of the offices herein 
made elective ; to fix and establish all the fees of 
the officers of said corporation not herein established ; 
to impose such fines not exceeding one hundred 
dollars for each ofience, as they may deem just, for 
refusing to accept any office in or under the cor- 
poration, or for misconduct therein ; to divide the 
city into wards ; to add to the number of Aldermen 
and Councillors, and apportion them among the sev- 
eral wards as may be most just and condu(ave to 
the interests of the city. 

Sec. 12. To license, tax and regulate auctions, 
merchants, retailers, grocers, hawkers, pedlars, 
brokers, pawn-brokers and money-changers. 

Sec. 13. The City Council shall have exclusive 
power within the city, by ordinance to license, reg- 
ulate and restrain the keeping of ferries ; to regu- 
late the police of the city ; to impose fines, forfeit- 
ures and penalties for the breach of any ordinance, 
and provide for the recovery of such fines and for- 
feitures, and the enforcement of such penalties, and 
to pass such ordinances as may be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the powers 
specified in this act ; Provided, Such ordinances are 
not repugnant to the Constitution of the United 
States or of this State; and iti fine, to exercise 
such other legislative powers as are conferred on 
the City Council of the city of Springfield, by an 
act entitled "An Act to incorporate the City of 
Springfield," approved February third, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and forty. 

Sec. 14. All ordinances passed by the City 
Council shall, within one month after they shall 



MAUVOO CHA:RTEB. 467 

have been passed, be published in some newspaper 
printed in the city, or certified copies thereof be 
posted up in three of the most public places in the 
city. 

Sec. 15. All ordinances of the city may be 
proven by the seal of the corporation, and when 
printed or published in book or pamphlet form, pur- 
porting to be printed or published by authority of 
the corporation, the same shall be received in 
evidence in all courts or places Tvithout further 
proof. 

Sec. 16. The Mayor and Aldermen shall be 
conservators of the peace within the limits of said 
city, and shall have all the powers of Justices of 
the Peace therein, both in civil and criminal cases, 
arising under the laws of the State ; they shall, as 
Justices of the Pfeace, within the limits of said city, 
perform the same duties, be governed by the same 
laws, give the same bonds and security as other 
Justices of the Peace, and be commissioned as 
Justices of the Peace in and for said cit}^ by the 
Governor. 

Sec. 17. The Mayor shall have exclusive juris- 
diction in all cases arising under the ordinances of 
the corporation, and shall issue such process as may 
be necessary to carry said ordinances into execu- 
tion and effect ; appeals may be had from any de- 
cision or judgment of said Mayor, or Aldermen, 
arising under the city ordinances, to the Municipal 
Court, under such regulations as may be prescribed 
by ordinance, wdiich Court shall be composed of 
the Mayor, or Chief Justice, and the Aldermen, as 
Associate Justices ; and from the final judgment of 
the Municipal Court to the Circuit Court of Han- 
cock County, in the same manner as appeals are 
taken from the judgments of Justices of the Peace : 
Provided, That the parties litigant shall have the 
right to a trial by a jury of twelve men in all cases 



468 THE FBOFHET OF FAL3IYBA. 

before the Municipal Court. The Municipal Court 
shall have power to grant writs of habeas corpus 
in all cases arising under the ordinances of the City 
Council. 

Sec. 18. The Municipal Court shall sit on the 
first Monday of ever}^ month , and the City Council 
at such times and places as may be prescribed by 
city ordinance, special meetings of which may, at 
any time, be called by the Mayor or any two 
Aldermen. 

Sec. 19. All processes issued by the Mayor, 
Aldermen, or Municipal Court, shall be directed to 
the Marshal, and in the execution thereof he shall 
be governed by the same laws as are or may be pre- 
scribed for the direction and compensation of con- 
stables in similar cases. The Marshal shall also 
perform such other duties as may be required of him 
under the ordinances of said city, and shall be the 
principal ministerial officer. 

Sec. 20. It shall be the duty of the Eecorder to 
make and keep accurate records of all ordinances 
made by the City Council, and of all their proceed- 
ings in their corporate capacity ; which records shall 
at all times be open to the inspection of the electors 
of said city ; and shall perform such other duties as 
may be required of him by the ordinances of the 
City Council, and shall serve as Clerk of the Mu- 
nicipal Court. 

Sec. 21. When it shall be necessary to take 
private property for opening, widening, or altering 
any public street, lane, avenue or alley, the corpo- 
ration shall make a just compensation therefor, to 
the person whose property is so taken, and if the 
amount of such compensation cannot be agreed 
upon, the Mayor shall cause the same to be ascer- 
tained by a jury of six disinterested freeholders of 
the city. 

Sec. 22, All jurors impanelled to inquire into 



NAUVOO CHARTEB. 469 

the amount of benefits or damages that shall happen 
to the owners of property so proposed to be taken, 
shall first be sworn to that eifect, and shall return 
to the Mayor their inquest in writing, signed by 
each juror. 

Sec. 23. In case the Mayor shall at any time be 
guilty of a palpable omission of duty, or shall wil- 
fully and corruptly be guilty of oppression, mal- 
conduct, or partiality in the discharge of the duties 
of his office, he shall be liable to be indicted in the 
Circuit Court of Hancock County ; and on convic- 
tion he shall be fined not more than two hundred 
dollars, and the Court shall have power on the 
recommendation of the jury, to add to the judgment 
of the Court, that he be removed from office. 

Sec. 24. The City Council may establish and 
organize an institution of learning within the limits 
of the city for the teaching of the arts, sciences and 
learned professions, to be called the "University 
of the City of Nauvoo ; " which institution shall be 
under the control and management of a board of 
trustees, consisting of a Chancellor, Eegistrar, and 
twenty-three Eegents, which board shall thereafter 
be a body corporate and politic, with perpetual 
succession, by the name of the " Chancellor and 
Regents of the University of the City of Xauvoo," 
and shall have full power to pass, ordain, establish 
and execute all such laws and ordinances as they 
may consider for the welfare and prosperity of said 
University, its officers and students ; Provided, 
That the said laws and ordinances shall not be 
repugnant to the Constitution of the United States 
or of this State ; and, Provided also, That the 
Trustees shall at all times be appointed by the City 
Council, and shall have all the powers and privileges 
for the advancement of the cause of education, which 
appertain to the trustees of any other College or 
University of this State. 



470 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

Sec. 2b. The City Council may organize the 
inhal)itants of said city subject to military duty into 
a body of independent military men, to be called 
the " Nauvoo Legion," the Court-Martial of which 
shall be composed of the commissioned officers of 
said Legion, and constitute the law-making depart- 
ment, with full powers and authority to make, or- 
dain, establish and execute, all such laws and 
ordinances, as may be considered necessary for the 
benefit, government and regulation of said Legion ; 
Provided, Said Couit-Martial shall pass no law or 
act repugnant to or inconsistent with the Constitu- 
tion of the United States or this State ; and. Pro- 
vid.ed, also. That the officers of the Legion shall be 
commissioned by the Governor of the State. The 
said Legion shall perform the same amount of mil- 
itary duty as is now or may be hereafter required 
of the regular militia of the State, and shall be at 
the disposal of the Mayor in executing the laws 
and ordinances of the City Corporation, and the 
laws of the State, and at the disposal of the Gov- 
ernor for the public defence and the execution 
of the laws of the State, or of the United States, and 
shall be entitled to their propoi-tion of the public 
arms ; and, Provided, also. That said Legion shall 
be exempt from all other military duty. 

Sec. 26. The inhabitants of the *' City of 
Nauvoo" are hereby exempt from working on any 
road beyond the limits of the city ; and for the 
purpose of keeping the streets, lanes, avenues and 
allej^s in repair, to require of the male inhabitants 
of said city, over the age of twenty-one and under 
fifty years, to labor on said streets, lanes, avenues 
and alleys, not exceeding three days in each year ; 
any person failing to perform such labors when duly 
notified b}' the Supervisor, shall forfeit and pay thie 
sum of one dollar per day for each day so neglected 
or refused. 



N'AVVOO CHABTEB. 471 

Sec. 27. The City Council shall have power to 
provide for the punishment of offenders, by impris- 
onment in the county or city jail, in all cases when 
such offenders shall fail or refuse to pay the fines 
and forfeitures which may be recovered against 
them. 

Sec. 28. This act is hereby declared to be a 
public act, and shall take effect on the first Monday 
of February next. 

Approved, December 16, 1840. 



472 THE FBOPHET OF FALMYMd^ 



CHAPTER XLYII. 

SOME OF THE CITY ORDINANCES. 

An Ordinance Regulating the Mode of Proceed- 
ing in Cases of Habeas Corpus before the 
Municipal Court. 

Section 1. Be it ordained by the City Council 
of the City of Nauvoo^ That in all cases where any 
person or persons shall at any time hereafter be 
arrested or under arrest, in this city, under any 
writ or process, and shall be brought before the 
Municpal Court of this city, by virtue of a writ of 
habeas corpus, the Court shall, in every such case, 
have power and authority, and are hereby required 
to examine into the origin, validity and legality of 
the writ or process, under which said arrest was 
made ; and if it shall appear to the Court upon 
sufficient testimony, that said writ or process was 
illegal, or not legally issued, or did not proceed 
from the proper authority,- then the Court shall dis- 
charge the prisoner from under said arrest ; but if 
it shall appear to the Court that said writ or process 
had issued from proper authority, and was a legal 
process, the Court shall then proceed and fully hear 
the merits of the case upon which said arrest was 
made, upon such evidence as may be produced and 
sworn before said Court ; and shall have power to 
adjourn the hearing, and also issue process from 
time to time, in their discretion, in order to procure 
the attendance of witnesses, so that a fair and im- 
partial trial and decision may be obtained in every 
case. 

Sec. 2. And be it further ordained, That if upon 



CITY OBDINANCES, 473 

investigation it shall be proven before the Municipal 
Court that the writ or process has been isfeued either 
through private pique, malicious intent, religious 
or other persecution, falsehood or misrepresentation, 
contrary to the Constitution of the United States 
or of this State, the said writ or process shall be 
quashed, and considered of no force or effect, and 
the prisoner or prisoners shall be released and dis- 
charged therefrom. 

Sec. 3. And he it also further ordained, That in 
the absence, sickness, disability, or other circum- 
stances, disqualifying or preventing the Mayor from 
officiating in his office as Chief Justice of the Mu- 
nicipal Court, the Aldermen present shall appoint 
one from amongst them to act as Chief Justice or 
President pro tempore. 

Sec. 4. This ordinance to take effect and be in 
force from and after its passage. 

Hyuum Smith, 
Vice-Mayor and President pro tempore. 

Passed August 8, 1842. 

James Sloan, Hecorder. 

An Ordinance coyicerning Marriages, 

Section 1. Be it ordained by the City Council 
of the City of JSTauvoo, That all male persons over 
the age of seventeen years, and females over the 
age of fourteen years may contract and be joined 
in marriage ; Provided, In all cases where either 
party is a minor, the consent of parents or guar- 
dians be first had. 

Sec. 2. Anypersons as aforesaid wishing to marry, 
or be joined in marriage, may go before any regu- 
lar Minister of the Gospel, Mayor, Alderman, Jus- 
tice of the Peace, Judge, or other person author- 
ized to solemnize marriages in this State, and 
celebrate or declare their marriage in such manner 
and form as shall be most agreeable, either with or 
without license. 



474 THE PEOPHET OF PALMYPA. 

V- 

Sec. 3. Any person solemnizing a marriage as 
aforesaid, shall make return thereof to the City 
Recorder,* accompanied b}^ a recording fee of fifty 
cents, within thirty days of the solemnization 
thereof; and it is hereby made the duty of the Re- 
corder to keep an accurate record of all such mar- 
riages. The penalty for a violation of either of the 
provisions of this ordinance shall be twenty dollars, 
to be recovered as other penalties or forfeitures. 

John C. Bennett, 

Mayor. 

Passed Feb. 17, 1842. 

James Sloan, Recorder. 

Number One again provided for, in the following 
ordinance : 

An Ordinance for the Health and Oonvenience of 
Travellers and other persons. 
Section 1. Be it ordained hy the City Council 
of the City of JSTauvoo^ That the Mayor of the Cit}" 
be and is hereby authorized to sell or give spirits, 
of any quantity, as he in his wisdom shall judge to 
be for the health, comfoii: or convenience of such 
travellers or other persons, as shall visit his house 
from time to time. 

^ Joseph Smith, 

Mayor. 
Passed Dec. 12, 1842. 
W. Richards, Recorder. 

An Extra Ordinance for the extra case of Joseph 
Smith, and others. 
\_Preamhle recounting S7nith^s difficulties icith 
Missouri omitted.'] 

* The statutes of tlie State of Illinois require tliat a license 
shall first be obtained from the office of the County Clerk, and 
that the person solemnizing marriages shall make his return 
to said officer. 



CITY ORDINANCES. 475 

Section 1. Be it ordained hy the City Council 
of the City of J^auvoo, According to the intent and 
meaning of the Charter, *' for the benefit and con- 
venience," That hereafter if any person or persons 
shall come with process, demand, or requisition 
founded upon the aforesaid Missouri difficulties, to 
arrest said Joseph Smith, he or they shall be sub- 
ject to be arrested by any officer of the city, with 
or without process, and tried by the Municipal 
Court, upon testimony, and if found guilty, sen- 
tenced to imprisonment in the city prison for life, 
which convict or convicts can only be pardoned by 
the Governor, with the consent of the Mayor of said 
city. . . . 

Joseph Smith, 

Mayor. 

Passed Dec. 8, 1843. 

W. KiCHAKDS, Recorder, 

An Ordinance To Prevent itnlawful Search or 
Seizure of Person or Property, by Foreign 
Process, in the City of Nauvoo, 

Section 1. Be it ordained hy the City Council 
of the City of Naur oo, To prevent kidnapping, ille- 
gal arrests of persons, or unlawful searches for 
property, that all writs issued out of the city shall, 
before they are executed within the limits of the 
city, be examined by and receive the approval and 
signature of the Mayor of said city on the back of 
said process, and be served by the Marshal of said 
city. 

Sec. 2. And he it further ordained, That every 
officer who shall execute, or attempt to execute, any 
process as aforesaid, without first obtaining the 
approval and signature of the Mayor of said city, as 
specified in the first section of this ordinance, shall 
be subject to a fine of not less than five dollars nor 
more than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment 



476 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

not less than one month nor more than six months 
in the city prison, or both, as a breach of ordinance 
to be tried before the Municipal Court of said city. 

Joseph Smith, 

Mayor, 
Passed Dec. 21, 1843. 
WiLLARD Richards, Recorder, 

Amendment. 

Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the City Council of 
the City of N^aMvoo, That nothing in the foregoing 
ordinance shall be so construed as to prevent, hinder 
or thwart the designs of justice, or to retard the 
civil officers of the State or county in the discharge 
of their official duties ; but to aid and assist them 
within the limits of this city. 

Joseph Smith, 

Mayor, 

Passed Jan. 10, 1844. 

WiLLARD Richards, Recorder. 

An Ordinance entitled ' ' An Ordinance to Repeal 
certain Ordinances therein named. ^^ 

Whereas, An Ordinance entitled "An Ordinance 
for the extra case of Joseph Smith and others," 
passed Dec. 8, 1843, and. Whereas, The Ordinance 
entitled "An Ordinance to prevent unlawful seizure 
and search of person and property, by foreign process 
in the City of Nauvoo," passed Dec. 21, 1843, have 
had their desired effect in preserving the peace, hap- 
piness, persons or property of the citizens of Nauvoo, 
according to their intent and meaning ; therefore. 

Section 1. Be it ordained by the City Council 
of the City of Nauvoo, That the aforesaid ordinances 
are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 2. And be it further ordained, That noth- 
ing in the first section of this ordinance shall be so 



CITY ORDINANCES. 477 

construed as to give license or liberty to any foreign 
officer, or other person or persons, to illegally dis- 
turb the peace, happiness or quiet of any citizen of 
said city, any ordinance to the contrary noth with- 
standing, under a penalty of not less than five 
hundred dollars, or imprisonment six months in the 
city prison. 

Joseph Smith, 

Mayor, 

Passed Feb., 1844. 

WiLLARD Richards, Recorder. 

An Ordinance in Relation to Religious Societies. 

Section 1. Be it ordained by the City Council 
of the City of Nauvoo^ That the Catholics, Presby- 
terians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-Day Saints, 
Quakers, Episcopalians, Universalists, Unitarians, 
Mohammedans, and all other religious sects and 
denominations whatever, shall have free toleration 
and equal privileges in this city ; and should any 
person be guilty of ridiculing, abusing, or other- 
wise depreciating another in consequence of his 
religion, or of disturbing or interrupting any re- 
ligious meeting, within the limits of this city, he 
shall on conviction thereof before the Mayor or 
Municipal Court, be considered a disturber of the 
public peace, and lined in any sum not exceeding 
five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding 
six months, or both, at the discretion of said Mayor 
or Court. 

\^Published loithout date or ojicial signature.^ 



478 THE FBOPHET OF PALM YE A, 



CHAPTER XLYm. 

THE CELEBRATED '^ CELESTIAL MARRIAGE'" 
REVELATION. 

As Published by Beigham Young in Utah. 

A Revelation on the Patriarchal Order of Mafri 
mony, or Plurality of Wives. Given to Joseph 
Smith, the Seer, in Nauvoo, July 12, 1843. 

1. Yerily, thus saith the Lord unto you my ser- 
vant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired 
of my hand, to know and understand wherein 
I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob; as also Moses, David, and Solomon, 
my servants, as touching the principle and doctrhie 
of their having many wives and concubines ; Behold I 
and lo, I am the Lord, thy God, and will answer 
thee as touching this matter ; Therefore, prepare 
thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which 
I am about to give unto you ; for all those who 
have this law revealed unto them, must obey the 
same ; for, behold ! I reveal unto you a new and 
everlasting covenant ; and if ye abide not that cov- 
enant, then are ye damned ; for no one can reject 
this covenant, and be permitted to enter into my 
glory ; for all who will have a blessing at my hands 
shall abide the law which was appointed for that 
blessing, and the conditions thereof, as was insti- 
tuted from before the foundation of the world : and 
as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, 
it was instituted for the fulness of my glory ; and 



CELESTIAL MABRIAGE BEVELATION. 479 

he that receiveth a fulness thereof, must and shall 
abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the 
Lord God. 

2. And verily I say unto you, that the conditions 
of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, 
bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, con- 
nexions, associations, or expectations, that are not 
made and entered into, and sealed, by the holy 
spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as 
well for time and for all eternity, and that too most 
holy, by revelation and commandment, through the 
medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on 
the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed 
unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the 
last days, and there is never but one on the earth 
at a time, on whom this power and the Keys of this 
Priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, 
or force, in and after the resurrection from the dead ; 
for all contracts that are not made unto this end, 
have an end when men are dead. 

3. Behold ! mine house is a house of order, saith 
the Lord God, and not a house of confusion. Will 
I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not 
made in my name ! Or, will I receive at your hands 
that which I have not appointed ! And av ill I appoint 
unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even 
as I and my Father ordained unto you, before the 
world was ! I am the Lord thy God, and I give 
unto you this commandment, that no man shall 
come unto the Father but by me, or by my word, 
which is my law, saith the Lord ; and everything 
that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, 
by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things 
of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by 
me, or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown 
down, and shall not remain after men are dead, 
neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord 
your God ; for whatsoever things remaineth, are by 



480 THE PBOFHET OF PALMYBA 

me ; and whatsoever things are not by me, shall be 
shaken and destroyed. 

4. Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the 
world, and he marry her not by me, nor by my 
word ; and he covenant with her so long as he is 
in the world, and she with him, their covenant and 
marriage is not of force when they are dead, and 
when they are out of the world ; therefore, they are 
not bound by any law when they are out of the 
world ; therefore, when they are out of the world, 
they neither marry nor are given in marriage ; but 
are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are 
ministering servants, to minister to those who are 
worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an 
eternal weight of glory ; for these angels did not 
abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, 
but remain separately and singly, without exalta- 
tion, in their saved condition, to all eternity, and 
from henceforth are not Grods, but are angels of 
God, forever and ever. 

5. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man 
marry a wife and make a covenant with her for time 
and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me 
or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed 
by the holy spirit of promise, through him whom I 
have anointed and appointed unto this power — then 
it is not valid, neither of force when they are out 
of the world, because they are not joined by me, 
saith the Lord, neither by my word ; when they are 
out of the world, it cannot be received there, be- 
cause the angels and the Gods are appointed there, 
by whom they cannot pass ; they cannot, therefore, 
inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, 
saith the Lord God. 

6. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man 
marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by 
the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed 
unto them by the holy spirit of promise, by him who 



CELESTIAL MABBIAGE REVELATION, 481 

is anointed, unto whom T have appointed this power, 
and the Keys of this Priesthood ; and it shall be 
said unto them, ye shall come forth in the first 
resurrection ; and if it be after the first resurrec- 
tion, in the next resurrection ; and shall inherit 
thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, of 
dominions, all heights and depths — ^then shall it be 
written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall 
commit no murder whereby to shed innocent 
blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit 
no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall 
be done unto them in all things whatsoever my ser- 
vant hath put upon them, in time, and through all 
eternity, and shall be of full force when they are 
out of the world ; and thej^ shall pass by the angels , 
and the Gods, which are set there, to their exalta- 
tion and glory in all things, as hath been sealed 
upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness 
and a continuation of the seeds for ever and 
ever. 

7. Then shall they be Gods, because they have 
no end ; therefore shall they be from everlasting to 
everlasting, because they continue ; then shall they 
be above all, because all things are subject unto 
them. Then shall they be God's, because they 
have all poAver, and the angels are subject unto 
them. 

8. Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye abide 
my law, ye cannot attain to this glory ; for straight 
is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto 
the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few 
there be that find it, because ye receive me not in 
the world, neither do ye know me. But if ye re- 
ceive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and 
shall receive your exaltation, that where I am ye 
shall be also. This is eternal lives, to know the 
only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he 
hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my 



482 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

law. Broad is the gate and wide the way that lead- 
eth to the death ; and many there are that go in 
thereat ; because they receive me not, neither do 
they abide in my law. 

9. Yerily, verily I say unto you, if a man marry 
a wife according to my word, and they are sealed 
by the holy spirit of promise, according to mine 
appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or 
transgression of the new and everlasting covenant 
whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if 
they commit no murder, wherein they shed inno- 
cent blood — ^yet they shall come forth in the first 
resurrection, and enter their exaltation ; but they 
shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be deliv- 
ered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of 
redemption, saith the Lord God. 

10. The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which 
shall not be forgiven in the world, nor out of the 
world, is in that ye commit murder, wherein ye 
shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after 
ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, 
saith the Lord God ; and he that abideth not this 
law, can in no wise enter into my glory, but shall 
be damned, saith the Lord. 

11. I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto 
thee the law of my Holy Priesthood, as was or- 
dained by me, and my Father, before the world 
was. Abraham received all things, whatsoever he 
received, by revelation and commandment, by my 
word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his 
exaltation, and sitteth upon his throne. 

12. Abraham received promises concerning his 
seed, and of the fruit of his loin^ — from whose loins 
ye are, namely, my servant Joseph — which were 
to continue so long as they were in the world ; and 
as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the 
world they should continue ; both in the world and 
out of the world should they continue as innumer- 



CELESTIAL MABBIAGE BEVELATION. 483 

able as the stars ; or, if ye were to count the sand 
upon the sea-shore, ye could not number them. 
This promise is yours, also, because ye are of 
Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham ; 
and by this law are the continuation of the works 
of my Father, wherein He glorifieth Himself. Go 
ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham ; enter 
ye into my law, and ye shall be saved. But if 
ye enter not into my law, ye cannot receive the 
promise of my Father, which He made unto Abra- 
ham. 

13. God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave 
Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do 
it? Because this was the law, and from Hagar 
sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfill- 
ing, among other things, the promises. Was Abra- 
ham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily, I 
say unto you, J^ay ; for I, the Lord, commanded it. 
Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac ; 
nevertheless, it was written, thou shall not kill. 
Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it w^as 
accounted unto him for righteousness. 

14. Abraham received concubines, and they 
bare him children, and it was accounted unto him 
for righteousness, because they were given unto him, 
and he abode in my law, as Isaac also, and Jacob 
did none other things than that which they were 
commanded ; and because they did none other things 
than that which they were commanded, they have 
entered into their exaltation, according to the prom- 
ises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels, but are 
Gods. David also received many wives and con- 
cubines, as also Solomon and Moses my servants ; 
as also many others of my servants, from the be- 
ofinnins: of creation until this time ; and in nothingf 
did they sin, save in those things which they received 
not of me. . , 

15. David's wives and concubines were o^iven 



iSi THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA, 

unto Iiim, of me, by the hand of Nathan, my ser- 
vant, and others of the prophets who had the Keys 
of this power ; and in none of these things did he 
sin against me, save in the case of Uriah and his 
wife ; and therefore he hath fallen from his exalta- 
tion, and received his portion ; and he shall not 
inherit them out of the world ; for I gave them unto 
another, saith the Lord. 

16. I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto 
thee, my servant Joseph, an appointment, and re- 
store all things ; ask what ye will, and it shall 
be given unto you according to my word ; and as 
ye have asked concerning adultery — verily, verily 
I say unto you , if a man receiveth a wife in the new 
and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another 
man, and I have not appointed unto her by the 
holy anointing, she hath committed adultery, and 
shall be destroyed. If she be not in the new and 
everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, 
she has committed adultery ; and if her husband be 
with another Avoman, and he was under a vow, he 
hath broken his vow, and hath committed adultery, 
and if she hath not committed adultery, but is inno- 
cent, and hath not broken her vow, and she know- 
eth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, 
then shall you have power, by the power of my 
Holy Priesthood, to take her, and give her unto 
him that hath not committed adultery, but hath 
been faithful ; for he shall be made ruler over 
many ; for I have conferred upon you the Keys and 
power of the Priesthood, wherein I restore all 
things, and make known unto you all things in due 
time. 

17. And verily, verily I sa}^ unto you, that 
whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed in 
heaven ; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in 
my name, and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall 
be eternally bound in the heavens ; and whosesoever 



CELESTIAL MABBIAGE BEVELATION. 485 

sins ye remit on earth, shall be remitted eternally 
in the heavens ; and whosesoever sins you retain on 
earth, shall be retained in heaven. 

18. And again, verily I say, whomsoever you 
bless, I will bless ; and whomsoever you curse, I 
will curse, saith the Lord ; for I, the Lord, am thy 
God. 

19. And again, verily I say unto you, my ser- 
vant Joseph, that whatsoever you give on earth, 
and to whomsoever you give any one on earth, by 
my word, and according to my law, it shall be vis- 
ited with blessings, and not cursings, and with my 
power, saith the Lord, and shall be without con- 
demnation on earth, and in heaven ; for I am the 
Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the 
end of the world, and through all eternity ; for 
verily, I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare 
a throne for you in the Kingdom of my Father, with 
Abraham your father. Behold, I have seen your 
sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins ; I have 
seen your sacrifices in obedience to that which I 
have told you ; go, therefore, and I make a way for 
your escape, as I accepted the offering of Abraham, 
of his son Isaac. 

20. Verily I say unto you, a commandment I 
give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife 
whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself, 
and partake not of that which I commanded you 
to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to 
prove you all, as I did Abraham ; and that I might 
require an offering at your hand, by covenant and 
sacrifice : and let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, 
receive all those that have been given unto my ser- 
vant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before 
me ; and those who are not pure, and have said 
they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord 
God ; for I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey 
my voice ; and I give unto my servant Joseph, that 



486 THE PEOPHET OF PAL3IYBA. 

he shall be made ruler over man}' things, for he 
hath been faithful over a few things, and from 
henceforth I will strengthen him. 

2 1 . And I command mine handmaid Emma Smith, 
to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to 
none else. But if she will not abide this command- 
ment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord ; for 
I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her, if 
she abide not in my law ; but if she will not abide 
this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph 
do all things for her, even as he hath said ; and I 
will bless him and multiply him, and give unto him 
an hundredfold in this world, of fathers and mothers, 
brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and 
children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal 
worlds. And again, verily I say, let my handmaid 
forgive m}- servant Joseph his trespasses, and then 
shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she 
hath trespassed against me ; and I, the Lord thy 
God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make 
her heart to rejoice. 

22. And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph 
put his propei-ty out of his hands, lest an enemy 
come and destroy him ; for Satan seeketh to destroy ; 
for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant ; 
and behold I and lo, I am with him, as I was with 
Abraham, thy Father, even unto his exaltation and 
glory. 

23. Now, as touching the law of the Priesthood, 
there are many things pertaining thereunto. Ver- 
ily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, 
by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that 
sent me ; and I have endowed him with the Keys of 
the power of this Priesthood, if he do anything in 
my name, and according to my law, and by my 
word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. 
Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; 
for I will justify him ; for he shall do the sacrifice 



CELESTIAL MAHBIAGE BEVELATION. 487 

which I require at his hands, for his trangressions, 
saith the Lord your God. 

24. And again, as pertaining to the law of the 
Priesthood : If any man espouse a virgin, and desire 
to espouse another, and the first give her consent ; 
and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, 
and have vowed to no other man, then is he 
justified; he cannot commit adultery, for they are 
given unto him ; for he cannot commit adultery 
with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else ; 
and if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, 
he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, 
and they are given unto him , therefore is he justified. 
But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is 
espoused, shall be with another man, she has com- 
mitted adultery, and shall be destroyed ; for they are 
given unto him to multiplj^ and replenish the earth, 
according to my commandment, and to fulfil the 
promise which was given by my Father before the 
foundation of the world ; and for their exaltation 
in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls 
of men : for herein is the work of my Father con- 
tinued, that he may be glorified. 

25. And again, verily, verily I say unto you, if 
any man have a wife who holds the keys of this 
power, and he teaches unto her the law of my Priest- 
hood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she 
believe, and administer unto him, or she shall be 
destroyed, saith the Lord your God ; for I will 
destroy her ; for I will magnify my name upon all 
those who receive and abide in my law. Therefore, 
it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, 
for him to receive all things, whatsoever I, the Lord 
his God, will give unto him, because she did not 
administer unto him according to my word ; and 
she then becomes the transgressor ; and he is 
exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered 
unto Abraham according to the law, when I com- 



488 THE PBOTSET OF PAL3IYItA. 

mancled Abraham to take Hagar to wife. And 
now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily I say 
unto you, I will reveal more unto you hereafter; 
therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold, 
I am Alpha and Omega. Amen. 



IfOl-ES AND ANECDOTES. 48D 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND ANECDOTES. 

The ICinderhook Plates — Titles of the Twelve — The 
Prophet as a Linguist — Some Mormon Methods — The 
Prophet and Church as Land Speculators — A Story 

FROM StENHOUSE — BiSHOP JOHN D. LeE — THE "COR- 
RECTED" Holy Scriptures. 

The Kindekhook Plates. 
The plates known as the Kinderhook plates, 
have been referred to by many writers on Mor- 
monism, as having some connection with that sys- 
tem. This is a mistake. They had no more to do with 
Mormonism, or the Book of Moimon or the Mor- 
mon Prophet, than with the downfall of Babylon, — 
excepting that they were exhibited in Nauvoo. They 
were not discovered at Kinderhook, New York, as 
statedby one writer, nor in OJiio, as related by others. 
They were dug out of a small mound at Kinder- 
hook, Pike County, Illinois, about seventy-five 
miles south of Nauvoo, in or about 1843, by Mr. 
Wiley, a merchant of that place. Intent on ascer- 
taining whether a mound near him contained any 
relics, this gentleman had the mound dug into, and 
these plates, among other things of minor impor- 
tance, were exhumed. They were of copper, six 



490 THE PEOPHET OF PALMYPA. 

in number, about three inches long, and bell-shaped, 
and about the thickness of an ordinary tin plate. 
The writer saw and examined these plates about 
the time they were exhibted at Nauvoo. Drawings 
were made of one side of at least two of them. 
What became of them afterwards he does not know. 
Most probably they were deposited by Mr. Wiley 
in some museum of antiquities. 

Titles of the Twelve. 

The Twelve Apostles were thus designated by 

W. W. Phelps, as published in the Times and 

Seasons^ at Nauvoo, in^l841 : his own name, — = 

we believe he was one of them, — being modestly 

omitted : 

Brigham Young — The Lion of the Lord. 
Parley P. Pratt — The Archer of Paradise. 
Orson Hyde — The Olive Branch of Israel. 
Willard Richards — The Kee^per of the Rolls. 
John Taylor — The Champion of Right. 
William Smith — The Patriarch of Jacobus Staff. 
Wilfred Woodruff — The Banner of the Gospel. 
George A. Smith — The Entahlature of Truth. 
Orson Pratt — The Gauge of Philosophy. 
John E. Page — The Sun-Dial, and 
Lyman Wight — The Wild Ram of the Mountains. 

The Peophet as a Linguist. 
How Mr. Smith became a linguist it is hard to 
tell, seeing he was so ignorant of his native tongue. 
He was quite fond of parading his acquirements in 



J^OTES AND ANECDOTES. 491 

that respect before his wondering followers. We 
give some specimens. In the Times and Seasons, 
of May 1, 1843, he gives a learned dissertation on 
the derivation of the name Mormon. He says : 

*< It has been stated that this word was derived 
from the Greek word mormo. This is not the 
case. There was no Greek or Latin upon the plates 
from which I, through the grace God, translated the 
Book of Mormon. Let the language of that book 
speak for itself. On the 523d page of the 4th 
edition it reads : 

" 'And now, behold, we have written this record 
according to our knowledge in the characters which 
are called among us the Reformed Egyptian, being 
handed down and altered by us, according to our 
manner of speech ; and if our plates had been suf- 
ficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew ; 
but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also ; and 
if we could have written in Hebrew, behold ye 
would have had no imperfection in our record ; but 
the Lord knoweth the things which we have w^ritten, 
and also that none other people knoweth our lan- 
guage ; therefore he hath prepared means for the 
interpretation thereof.' 

" Here, then, the subject is put to silence ; for 
* none other people knoweth our language,' there- 
fore the Lord, and not man, had to interpret, after 
the people were all dead. . . . Before I give 
a definition, however, to the word, let me say that 
the Bible in its widest sense, means good; for the 
Saviour says, according to the gospel of St. John, ' I 
am the good shepherd ; ' and it will not be beyond 
the common use of terms to say that good is among 
the most important in use, and though known by 
various names in difierent languages, still its mean- 
ing is the same, and is ever in opposition to bad. 



492 THE PROPHET OF PAL3irBA. 

"VVe say from the Saxon, good; the Dane, god; 
the German, gut; the Datch, goed; the Latin, 
bonus; the Greek, kalos; the Hebrew, toh ; and 
the Egyptian, mon. Hence, with the addition of 
more, or the contraction mor, we have the word 
Mormon; which means literally more good. 

Luminous and lucid ! Then again, in a corre- 
spondence with James Arlington Bennett, a ' * crank " 
lawyer, residing in the city of Xew York, the 
prophet made this display of his learning : 

< ' Were I an Egyptian, I would exclaim Jah-oh-eh, 
Enish-go-on-dosh, Flo-ces Flos-is-is, (O, the earth, 
the power of attraction, and the moon passing be- 
tween her and the sun) ; a Hebrew, Hanelo-heem 
yenan ; a Greek, O theos phos, esi ; a Roman, Dom- 
inus regit me ; a German, Got gebe uns das licht ; 
a Portuguese, Senhor Jesu Christo e liberda de ; a 
Frenchman, Dieu defend le droit ; but as I am, I 
give God the glory, and say, in the beautiful lan- 
guage of the poet : 

' Could we with ink the ocean fill, 

Was the whole earth of parchment made, 
And every single stick a quill, 

And every man a scribe by trade, — 
To write the love of God above 

Would drain the ocean dry ; 
Nor could the whole upon the scroll 

Be spread from sky to sky.' " 

Still another of those efforts, and the last one we 
can make room for here, is to be found in an 
*' Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys," published 
in the Nauvoo Neighbor about the last of Jan- 
uary, 1843. This was an <' Address to the Free- 



EXPLANATION OF THE CUT ON OPPOSITE PAGE. 

Fifj. 1. Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence 
of God, First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. 
The measurement, according to celestial time; which, celestial time, signifies one 
day to a cubit. One day, in Kolob, is equal to a thousand years, according to the 
measurement of this eai-th, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh. 

Fig. 2. Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians OlibUsh, which is the next 
grand governing creation, near to the celestial or the place where God resides; 
holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets ; as revealed from 
God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto 
the Lord. 

Fig. 3- is made to represent God, sitting upon His throne, clothed with power and 
authority : with a crown of eternal light upon his head : representing, also, the 
grand Key- Words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of 
Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchisedeck, Abraham, and all to whom the Priest- 
hood was revealed. 

Fig. 4. Answers to the Hebrew word raukeeyang, signifying expanse, or the 
lirmament of the heavens; also, a numerical figure, in Egyptian, signifying one 
thousand; answering to the measuring of the time of Ollblish, which is equal 
with Kolob in its revolution and in its measuring of time. 

Fig. 5. Is called in Egyptian Euish-go-on-dosh ; that is one of the governing 
planets also : and Is said by the Egyptians to be the Sun, and to borrow its light 
from Kolub through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash, which is the grand Key, or in 
other words, the governing power, which governs fifteen other fixed planets or 
stars, as also Floeese or the Moon, the Earth and the Sun in their annual revolutions. 
This planet receives its power through the medium of Kli-flos-is-es, or Hah-ko- 
kau-beam. the stars represented by numbers 22, and 23, receiving light from the 
revolutions of Kolob. 

Fig. 6. Represents this earth in its four quarters. 

Fig. 7. Represents God sitting upon His throne, revealing, through the heavens, 
the grand Key- Words of the Priesthood ; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto 
Abraham, in the form of a dove. 

Fig. 8. Contains writing that cannot be revealed unto the world ; but is to be 
had in the Holy Temple of God, 

Fig. 9. Ought not to be revealed at the present time. 

Fig. 10. Also. 

Fig. 11. Also.— If the world can find out these numbers. So let it be. Amen. 

Figures 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, will be given in the own due time 
of the Lord. The above transatiou is given as far as we have any right to give, 
at the present time. 

This cut and explanation are from a pamphlet published by 
Franklin D. Richards in Liverpool in 1851, who presumes true 
believers "will appreciate this little collection of precious truths as 
a Pearl of Great Price," and he therefore gives it that title. A 
part of the pamphlet is from the so-called Book of Abraham. — "A 
translation of some ancient records, that have fallen into our hands 
from the catacombs of Egypt, purporting to be the writings of 
Abraham while he was in Egypt, called The Book of Abraham, 
written by his own hand, upon papyrus." It is of interest in con- 
nection with the claims of archaeological knowledge or inspiration 
of the prophe*^ 




A FAC-SIMILE FROM THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM!. 



J 



NOTES AND ANECDOTES. 498 

men ot the State of Vermont, the ])iave Green 
Mountain Boys, and honest men," and contained a 
recital of the sufferings of himself and people in 
Missouri, etc. It starts out by stating that he was 
a native Vermont er, and that his father was a sol- 
dier in the Revolution. In the course of it the 
following paragraph is injected, and the reader 
must judge what connection it has with the main 
subject : 

" Were I a Chaldean, I would exclaim : *Keed'- 
naob ta maroon le-hoam elauhay augh deyshemay- 
augh yah aur kan ion gua abadoo, yabadoo ma'ar 
guan bomen tehoat shemayaugh elal.' (Thus shall 
ye say unto them. The gods that have not made 
the heavens and the earth, they shall perish from 
the earth and from these heavens.) An Egyptian : 
* Saeeh-ni.' (What other persons are those?) A 
Grecian: *Diabolosbassilenei.' (The Devil reigns.) 
A Frenchman : * Messieurs sans Dieu.' (Gentlemen 
without God.) A Turk : ' Ainsheurs.' (The fountain 
of Light.) A German : ' Sie sind unferstandig.' 
(What consummate ignorance !) A Syrian : * Zan- 
bok.' (Sacrifice.) A Spaniard: * II sabio muda 
conscio, il nescio no.' (A wise man reflects, a fool 
does not.) A Samaritan : * Sannau.' (O stranger !) 
An Italian : *A tempa ! O diflSdanza ! ' (O the 
times! O the diffidences!) A Hebrew : 'Antoub 
ail rancy.' (Thou God seest me.) A Dane : 'Hoad 
tidende?' (What tidings?) A Saxon: ' Hwart 
riht? ' (What right?) A Swede : ' Hvad skilla ! ' 
(What skill !) A Polander : ' Nav-yeu-shoo-bah 
poa na Jesu Christus.' (Blessed be the name of 
Jesus Christ.) A AVestern Indian : ' She-mo-kah, 
she-mo-kah, ough nega.' (The white man, O the 



494 THE PBOPHET OF PALIITBA. 

white man, he very uncertain.) A Eonian : * Pro- 
col, o procol este profain.' (Be off, be off, ye 
profane.) But as I am, I will only add: * When 
the wicked rule, the people mourn.' " 

Some Mormon Methods. 
The following plain story, told us by a gen- 
tleman of undoubted veracity, who resided not 
many miles from Nauvoo, tells, as well as volumes 
could tell, the methods resorted to by the leaders 
to filch the hard earnings of their followers, for 
their own aggrandizement and for the temple fund ; 
and it also furnishes a reason why the Mormons 
were so objectionable as neighbors. We give it in 
his own words : 

' ' I often went with produce to Nauvoo ; and it 
mattered little what kind it was, so it was some- 
thing people could live on ; and if at any time my 
stuff was dull sale, I would go the Committee 
Eooms [the 'Lord's Store House,'], and could 
always trade it off for something. They had almost 
every conceivable thing, from all kinds of imple- 
ments and men's and women's clothing down to baby 
clothes and trinkets, — ivhich had heen deposited as 
tithing hy tie oivners, or for the henejit of the 
temple. 

"In the fall of 1843 I went to Nauvoo to buy 
calves, and calltd on a blind man who had one to 
sell. I bought his calf, — and being curious to learn 
his history, went in and saw his wife, with little 
twin infants in a cr'^dle, and great destitution. He 
told me that he had a nice home in Massachu- 
setts, which gave them a good support. But one 
of the Mormon elders preaching in that country, 



NOTES AND ANECDOTES. 495 

called on him and told him that if he would sell out 
and go to Nauvoo, the prophet ivoiild open his eyes 
and restore his sight. And he sold out, and had 
come to the city, and had spent all his means, and 
was now in great need. I asked him why the 
prophet did not open his eyes. He replied that 
Joseph had informed him that he coiddn't open his 
eyes till the temple was finished: and then, when 
the temple was finished, he would open them, and 
he should see better than before. And he believed, 
and was waiting patiently for the last stroke to be 
made on the temple ! 

"After this interview, when in Nauvoo I often 
took them something, and the blind man's wife 
seemed to think I was one of the Saints. One day 
I inquired how they were getting along. She told 
me they had been getting along finely ; that there 
was a company formed to go out on the prairie 
and butcher cattle to get beef for the destitute; — 
and that they had been well supplied until about 

a week ago ; but Brother was mean enough 

to tell on them, and now they dare not go out any 
more to the prairie for beef — ' and what to do we 
don't know.' " 

Going out to the prairie for beef, was to procure 

it from anybody's cattle that ranged there. 

The Prophet and Church as Land Speculators. 

The church and its head were speculators in 
lands and town lots in and about Nauvoo . Of course , 
a monopoly of the business was desired. One of 
the methods to secure this was to keep the follow- 
ing notice standing in the columns of the Neigh- 
bor : 



496 THE PROPHET OF PALMYBA, 

* * Notice . — To Emigrants and Latter- Day Saints 
generally : 1 feel it my duty to say to the brethren 
generally, and especially to those who are emigrat- 
ing to this place, that there is in the hands of the 
trustee in trust, a large quantity of lands, both in 
the city and adjoining townships, in this county, 
which is for sale, some of which belongs to the 
church, and is designed for the benefit of the poor, 
and also to liquidate debts owing by the church, 
for which the trustee in trust is responsible. Some, 
also, is land which has been consecrated for the 
building of the Temple and the Nauvoo House. If 
the brethren who move in here and want an inherit- 
ance, will buy their lands of the trustee in trust, 
they will thereby benefit the poor, the Temple, and 
the Nauvoo House, and even then only be doing 
that which is their duty, and which I know, by 
considerable experience, will be vastly for their ben- 
efit and satisfaction in days to come. Let all the 
brethren, therefore, when they move into Nauvoo, 
consult President Joseph Smith, the trustee, etc., 
and purchase their lands of him ; and I am bold to 
say that Grod will bless them, and they will here- 
after be glad they did so. 

''We hold ourselves ready at any time to wait on 
the brethren, and show them the lands belonging 
to the Church, and the Temple, etc., and can be 
found any day either at President Joseph Smith's 
bar-room, or the Temple Recorder's Office at the 
Temple. 

«*W. Clayton, 

* < (JIq^Jc, 

Nauvoo, Dec. 16, 1843." 

A Story from Stenhouse. 

Some years since, Mr. T. B. H. Stenhouse, a 
former Mormon Elder in Utah, issued a work enti- 



NOTES A^'I) ANECDOTES. 497 

tied ** The Rocky Mountain Saints,^' — in which we 
find the followinoj relating: to the murder of the 
prophet in the Carthage jail. Referring to the 
prophet's willingness to meet death, Mr. Stenhouse 
says : 

** Notwithstanding this apparent readiness to 
meet death, and the deep and clear divine impres- 
sions claimed to have been imparted to the prophet, 
of his forthcoming end, it is understood that he 
managed to send from prison a communication to 
the Mormon officer in military command at Nauvoo, 
to bring with all possible dispatch a portion of the 
Legion to protect him from treachery, and from 
that assassination which he had then so much cause 
to apprehend. The military commander put the 
communication in his pocket and gave no heed to 
the call for help. No one was acquainted with the 
contents of the paper, and the officer was therefore, 
as he presumed, safe in disregarding it. 

*< After the prophet's death, by some accident or 
other, this communication was lost, and picked up 
on the street and read. The intelligence that Joseph 
had called for aid, and none had been rendered him, 
was soon bruited among the Saints, and excited 
their deepest indignation ; as they were not only 
ready to march at a moment's notice, but were eager 
for the opportunity. 

** Some time afterwards, when all was quiet, this 
'coward and traitor,' as some of the Mormons 
called him, or < fool and idiot,' as others said, 
was sent on a mission to the Western frontier, 
accompanied by a faithful elder. While traveling 
alone with his companion, he fell ill and died, it is 
said of dysentery! His companion buried lum," 
— Page 164, Note. 



498 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

The foregoing may or may not be true. If true, 
it reveals facts we do not remember to have heard 
from any other source. It bears semblance of 
truth; and the narrator's twenty-five years' close 
connection with Brigham Young and the leaders in 
Utah, certainly gave him every facility for ascer- 
taining its truth. It has ever been a wonder that 
the Legion did not make a demonstration while 
their leaders were in jail, either to protect or release 
them. That they did not, we have heretofore 
attributed to their reliance on the prophet's good 
luck in escaping from danger. This story, taken 
in connection with the admission made by Governor 
Ford, that he, too, contemplated a rescue, presents 
a very interesting suggestion : Whether the diso- 
bedience of the officer of the Legion did not prevent 
a much more fearful and bloody tragedy than the 
one that was enacted. The belief has been general 
that an attempt at rescue would soon have been 
made. This, of course, cannot be ofiered as an 
excuse for the mob ; but it does excuse the people 
of Carthage and the military, for the feverish appre- 
hension under which they labored, and for which 
their excitable Governor so severely blamed them. 
Who that Legion commander was, alluded to in the 
extract, and who afterwards died of ''dysentery^' 
(the italics are Stenhouse's) , we are unable to state. 
The italics suggest, however, a quite popular Mor- 



I^OTES ANB ANECDOTES. 499 

mon mode of dealing with offenders, of which Sten- 
house has noted many examples. 

John D. Lee. 
The reader will remember this individual as the 
man who was made the scape-goat of the authorities 
in Utah, some years ago, and was tried, found guilty, 
and executed, for his participation in the massacre 
at Mountain Meadows. Lee was a resident of 
Nauvoo in 1843, and in good standing; was sent 
out as a traveling elder. He was afterwards ad- 
vanced to the position of bishop, and at the time 
of said massacre was known in L^tah as Bishop 
Lee. It is plain that Lee was sacrificed to save 
men higher in authority than he. 

The "Cokrected" Holy Scriptuees. 
The Publishing Committee of the " Eecon- 
structed " Church at Piano, Illinois (since located 
at Lamoni, Iowa), publish a handsome edition of 
the Bible, which they entitle **The Holy Script- 
ures, Translated and Corrected by the Spirit of 
Revelation, by eloseph Smith, Jr., the Seer." The 
history of this book is thus given in its preface : 

** This Work is given to the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to the public in 
pursuance of the commandment of God. 

*'As concerning the manner of translation and 
correction, it is evident, from the MSS. and the 
testimony of those who were conversant with the 



500. THE PBOPHET OF PALMYRA. 

facts, that it was done by direct revelation from 
God. 

*< It was begun in June, 1830, and was finished 
July 2, 1833." 

Then it goes on to state that at the prophet's 
death the MSS. were left in the hands of the widow, 
where they remained until 1866, when they were 
placed in the hands of the Reconstructors. The 
necessity of the work is proven by a quotation from 
the Book of Mormon. But the way it came about 
between the years 1830 and 1833, is due to Moses : 
for, according to a Revelation given to Joseph 
Smith in June, 1830, one had been made personally 
to Moses on the Mount, *' the name of which shall 
not be known among the children of men," inform- 
ing him that in due time, <' I (the Lord) will raise 
up another like unto you^^^ to do this work — and 
so Joseph Smith, *'Seer," came upon the earth to 
do it. 

** Evident from the manuscripts, and from the 
testimony of those who were conversant with the 
facts " — say the publishers thirty-three years after- 
wards — " that it was done by direct revelation 
from God." 

Strong proof! That is, the manuscripts say it 
was ; and those who were < ' conversant with the 
facts " are presumed to have been Oliver Cowdery, 
David Whitmer and Martin Harris, who gave such 



NOTES AND ANECDOTES. 501 

indubitable proofs of the divine origin of tJie Booh 
of Mormon, But what had become of Martin 
Harris and his money that the work was not im- 
mediately put to press? A *« correction " of^the 
Holy Scriptures from so able a source, should not 
have been permitted to remain unpublished for so 
long a period, one full generation, and the world 
all that time deprived of its saving advantages. 



APPENDIX. 



THE LEADERS IN THE REVOLT AT NAUVOO. 

The principal leaders in the revolt at Nauvoo, and the 
proprietors of the Expositor ' ' nuisance ," were the two Gen- 
erals in the Nauvoo Legion, William and Wilson Law, Dr. 
Robert D. and Charles A. Foster, Francis and Chaun- 
cey Higbee, and Sylvester Enimans. Of course these all 
" vamosed the ranche " when the press was destroyed, as 
it had become decidedly" unsafe for them to remain longer 
in the city. Thej^ had all been prominent men there, and 
some of them had been influential leaders. 

Mr. Emmans was understood to have been a lawyer, 
not a member of the church, but an adventurer who came 
there to seek practice. He seems to have been well re- 
ceived, as in a short period he was advanced to a mem- 
bership in the city council. What grievance he had to 
induce him to join the rebellion we have never learned. 
His name stood in its editorial columns as editor of the 
paper. He afterwards located at Beardstown, Illinois, 
and for several years conducted a newspaper there. 

Fraxcts M. and Chauncey L. Higbee were two 
brothers, sons of an early disciple of the prophet, who had 
been with him in Kirtland and Missouri, and afterwards 
had gone with him as an emissary to Washington. He had 
died soon after locating in Nauvoo. The elder son, 
Francis, became intimate in the familj^ of Mr. Rigdon, 
and we believe married his daughter, but died many 
years ago. Chauncey Higbee left the city and settled in 
Pittsfield, Illinois, studied law and became a judge, in 
which position he served successfully and honorably in the 
circuit in which Nauvoo is situated, and is now dead. 
There is no doubt but Judge Higbee lived to regret the 
years of his youth and reckless inexperience among the 
Mormons — always deelining to be consulted or inter- 



504 THE TBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

viewed on the subject, and remarking, as he once did to 
the writer, that the subject was a distasteful one. 

Dr. Robert D. and Charles A. Foster were broth- 
ers, who early made their appearance in Nauvoo, but it is 
not remembered whether they came from Missouri or not. 
Dr. Foster was a physician of considerable intelligence 
and capacity, and stood well with the leaders ; so much 
so that in 1843 he was put forward and elected to the 
responsible office of county school commissioner, re- 
ceiving the support of the leaders and the almost undi- 
vided vote of the sect. He was holding that office at the 
time he joined the insurrection. These brothers after- 
ward removed to some point on the Mississippi above, 
and have since disappeared from public view. 

The Generals Law were converts of wealth from 
Canada, and had joined the fortunes of the prophet after 
the " stake " was planted at Nauvoo. They went into 
business there, and were for several years active and 
popular businessmen, in the milling line. After the ex- 
pulsion of the rebels, they too went north and settled in 
Wisconsin, poorer but wiser men. We close this sketch 
of the revolters by copying in part the report of an inter- 
view held with General William Law, as late as in 1887, 
at the home of his son. Judge Thomas Law, at ShuUs- 
burgh, Wisconsin. If living now he is an octogenarian. 
He was interviewed by a Dr. Wyl of Salt Lake City, who 
published it in the Salt Lake Tribune. Wilson Law is 
long since dead. 

The statements of the interview must be taken for 
what they are worth. While many of them are corrob- 
orated elsewhere and in many ways, there are others 
that need verification, and some that probably exist only 
in the mind of the narrator. One fact, however, will ob- 
trude itself upon the mind of the reader — that while these 
seceders are making all these damaging statements against 
the prophet and the leaders at Nauvoo, it is remembered 
that only a year or so earlier they were denying them 
when made by others. It is for them to reconcile these 
damaging facts. 

Interview with William Law, March 30, 1887. 
Dr. William Law lives with his son, Judge " Tommy " 
Law. The house is a fine cottage, large, well-kept 



APPENDIX. 505 

gTouncls siirvouud it. "VYe entered a cheerful looking 
room and there sat William Lain., dressed in black, a 
most venerable looking figure. The head has a striking 
expression of intelligence, the large, clear eyes are of a 
remarkably deep steel blue ; the general impression is 
that of a thinker, of a benevolent and just man. He 
greeted me in a fatherly way. I expressed my joy at 
seeing at last so important a witness of a history to 
whose study I had devoted two years. 

I sat down near the venerable figure. I hesitated to 
put any questions to him, but he made my task easy by 
saying: "You speak, in your book, of Joseph Smith 
having sent Rockwell to kill Governer Boggs. Let me 
tell you, that Joe Smith told me the fact himself. The 
words were substantially like this : "I sent Rockwell to 
Mil Boggs ^ but he missed him, it was a failure ; he 
wounded him instead of sending Mm to Hell.'' 

This beginning gave me some courage, and I began 
the pumping business, in a cantious way, though, that I 
might not frighten my subject. I had put down in my 
note-book a score of questions or so. So I glanced over 
them now and then, stealthily, and ventured this or that 
question, waiting till the good doctor would get warm in 
the recollections of the past. This happened soon and 
then I could ask with more liberty. 

' ' What position had Rockwell in Joseph's house ? " 

" Rockwell was the lackey of the house. He used to 
comb and shave Joseph, blackened his boots, and drove 
his carriage. He would have done anything Joe wanted 
him to do. I never saw a horse or carriage belonging to 
Rockwell which you say he got from Joseph for the at- 
tempt to kill Boggs." 

The reader will easily understand that I had particular 
reasons to ask about the Expositor, Wm. Law being the 
only surviving publisher and editor of that celebrated 
sheet, born and killed June 7, 1844. So I began : 

"I suppose that you originated the Expositor^ Dr. 
Law?" 

"Yes, / originated the idea to publish that paper. I 
had friends in many parts of the country. They knew 
that I had become a member of the Mormon religion. I 
wanted to show them, by publishing the paper, that I 
had not been in a fraud willingly (here the old man's 



506 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

eyes filled with tears and his voice trembled) . I started 
the idea, and my brother Wilson, stood to me like a 
brother should. I don't remember whether it was I, or 
not, who gave the name ' Expositor.' But I and my 
brother, we gave the money, about $2,000. I gave the 
biggest part. The Higbees etc., had scarcely a dollar 
in it." 

" You were well off at that time. Dr. Law?" 
"We had property to the amount of about $30,000, 
which was a good deal in those days. We had farms in 
Nauvoo, city lots, and our residences. My brother had 
a fine brick two-story building. By starting the Expos- 
itor we lost nearly everything." 

" Didn't you have a store and a mill? " 
" Yes, we had a large steam flour and sawmill and a 
store. It would have been the smart thing to do, to re- 
main quiet, sell our property without noise for what we 
could get, and move away. That would have been smart, 
but I wasn't cool and smart then. I wanted to do my 
duty and nothing else, and didn't care for the conse- 
quences, not a bit. Many friends advised me to be 
smart and remain quiet, but I would not hear of it and 
spoke my mind whenever an opportunity offered. When 
the Smiths saw that we were against them, then they ap- 
plied to us their usual system, that is, to freeze lis out. 
Secret orders went out that nobody could buy property 
without the permission of Joseph Smith, Hj^rum, or the 
authorities, as they called them, so our property was prac- 
tically worthless. Yes, my brother Wilson stood to me 
like a man, fully, fearlessly. He died, here in ShuUs- 
burgh, of a stroke of apoplexy, after an illness of three 
days, ten years ago. He was a very fine and tremen- 
dously strong man. He wrestled with Joe in Nauvoo 
and thi'ew him on his back." 

" How did you become a Mormon, Doctor?" 
"John Taylor and Almon W. Babbitt came as mission- 
aries to Canada and preached where I lived, twenty-five 
miles south of Toronto. I believe that Taylor was sincere 
then and I believe he was to a late day. Finally the gi-eed 
of power and money killed his conscience. There was, 
now and then, a good man in Mormondom, for instance 
William Marks. He was a very good man and knew as 
little of the secret crimes of the leaders as I knew myself.'' 



APPENDIX. 507 

^' The letters you wrote me, made me suppose that the 
Smiths tried to kill you when they saw an enemy in 
you?" 

" They tried to get rid of me in different ways. One 
was \)y poisoning . I was already out of the church when 
Hyrum called one day and invited me for the next day 
to a reconciliation dinner as he called it, to his house. 
He said Joseph would come too. He invited me and my 
wife. He was very urgent about the matter, but I de- 
clined the invitation. Now I must tell you that I, in 
those dangerous days, did not neglect to look out some- 
what for the safety of my person, and that I kept a de- 
tective or two among those who were in the confidence 
of the Smiths. That very same evening of the day on 
which Hyrum had been to my house inviting me, my de- 
tective told me that they had conceived the plan to 
poison me at the reconciliation dinner. Their object 
was a double one. My going to the dinner would have 
shown to the people that I was reconciled, and mj^ death 
would have freed them of an enemy. You may imagine 
that I didn't regret having declined that amiable invita- 
tion." 

" Have you had any knowledge of cases of poisoning 
in Nauvoo, ordered by the authorities ? " 

"1 know that several men, six or seven, died under 
very suspicious circumstances. Among them were two 
secretaries of the prophet, Mulholland and Blaskel 
Thompson. I saw Mulholland die, and the symptoms 
looked very suspicious to me. Dr. Foster, who was a 
very good physician, believed firmly that those six or 
seven men had been poisoned, and told me so repeatedly." 

" What may have been the reason for poisoning the 
secretaries?" 

(With a smile) "They knew too much, probably." 

"What do you know about the Dauites?" 

"Nothing of my personal knowledge. They existed, 
but their workings were kept very secret. I never be- 
longed to the initiated. Smith tried very hard to get 
them to kill me. One day my detective told me, that 
two Danites had gone to Joseph and told him that they 
wanted to put me out of the wa3^ Joseph said : ' Don't 

he (Law) is too influential ; his death would bring the 

country down upon us ; HJaiiJ Later, when I was 



608 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

thoroughly aware of my danger, they tried in all man- 
ners to use me up, and had Danites all day and night 
after me, but I looked out and kept myself safe. What- 
ever there was of crime in Nauvoo, was kept secret. On 
the outside everything looked nice and smooth. There 
were lots of strangers every Sunday as visitors and then 
the best speakers were put on the stand as samples of 
the fruits of this fine religion." 

" Did Emma, the elect lady, come to your house and 
complain about Joseph ? " 

" No. She never came to my house for that purpose. 
But I met her sometimes on the street, and then she used 
to complain, especially because of the girls whom Joseph 
kept in the house, devoting his attention to them. You 
have overrated her, she was dishonest." 

" Do you mean to say that she was so outside of the 
influence Joseph had over her? " 

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. Let me tell you 
a case, that will be full proof to you. Soon after my 

arrival in Nauvoo the two L girls came to the holy 

city, two very young girls, 15 to 17 years of age. They 
had been converted in Canada, were orphans and worth 
about $8,000 in English gold. Joseph got to be ap- 
pointed their guardian, probably with the help of Dr. 
Bennett. He naturally put the gold in his pocket and 
had the girls sealed to him. He asked me to go on his 
bond as a guardian, as Sidney Rigdon had done. ' It 
is only a formality,' he said. Foolishly enough, and 
not yet suspecting anything, I put my name on the 
paper. Emma complained about Joseph's living with 
the L girls, but not very violently. It is my con- 
viction that she was his full accomplice, that she was 
not a bit better than he. When I saw how things went, 
I should have taken steps to be released of that bond, 
but I never thought of it. After Joseph's death, A. W. 
Babbitt became guardian of the two girls. He asked 
Emma for a settlement about the $8,000. Emma said 
she had nothing to do with her husband's debts. Now 
Babbitt asked for the books, and she gave them to him. 
Babbitt found that Joseph had counted an expense of 
about $3,000 for board and clothing of the girls. Now 
Babbitt wanted the $5,000 that was to be paid. Babbitt, 
who was a straight, good, honest, sincere man, set about 



APPENDIX. - 609 

to find out property to pay the So, 000 with. He could 
find none. Two splendid farms near Nauvoo, a big, 
brick house, worth from $3,000 to $4,000, the hotel kept 
by Joe, a mass of vacant town lots, all were in Emma's 
name, not transferred later, but transferred from the be- 
ginning. She always looked out for her part. When I 
saw how things stood, I wrote to Babbitt to take hold of 
all the property left by me in Nauvoo and of all claims 
held by me against people in Nauvoo. And so the debt 
was paid by me — Emma didn't pay a cent." 

We had chatted about an hour when Dr. Law said that 
he felt a little tired. I kept silent for a few minutes. 
The old gentleman rallied very soon, and began to speak 
without being questioned. 

''I told you that the Smiths tried to poison me. 
When Joseph saw that I had no great appetite for recon- 
ciliation dinners, he tried with the Indians. The plan 
was, that somebody should use me up who was not 
openly connected with the church ; he was yet afraid of 
the people because of my influence. Later he would 
have killed me without any regard. One day about one 
hundred redskins came to town, and twenty or thirty were 
sent to my house. We tried to get rid of them, but 
could not, and we saw clearly that they had a dark plan 
for the night. But we had to keep them, gave them 
blankets, and they were all night in our hall. Wilson 
Law, I, and some friends, though, kept good watch all 
night, with barricaded windows and doors, and guns and 
pistols ready." 

•'You have known the parents of the prophet, old 
Lucy and old Joe, the Abraham of this new dispensa- 
tion?" 

" Oh, yes, I know them. Old Lucy was in her dotage 
at that time ; she seemed a harmless old woman. Old 
Joe sold blessings, so much a head, always in the same 
style — that my sons should be emperors and my daugh- 
ters mothers of queens, and that everybody should have 
as many children as there was sands on the shore. Old 
Joe was an old tramp." 

'' How about Dr. Bennett?'* 

'' Bennett was ver}^ smart and clever, but a thorough 
scoundrel. Never could find out the reason of his down- 
fall. Mrs. Pratt was a most excellent, pure woman, but 



510 THE PBOFSET OF PALMYBA. 

the fact that Bennett visited her sometimes, was used by 
Joseph to ruin her character. He had his spies every- 
where, and if a woman refused him, he sent his fellows 
out to whisper stories around about her." 

"What do you remember about Emma's relations to 
the revelation on celestial marriage ? " 

' ' Well, I told you that she used to complain to me about 
Joseph's escapades whenever she met me on the street. 
She spoke repeatedly about that pretended revelation. 
She said once : ' TJie revelation says I must submit or he 
destroyed. Well, I guess I have to submit,' On another 
day she said : ' Joe and I have settled our troubles on the 
basis of equal rights.' . . . Emma was a full accom- 
plice of Joseph's crimes. She was a large, coarse woman, 
as deep a woman as there was, always full of schemes 
and smooth as oil. They were worthy of each other ; she 
was not a particle better than he." 

" You think that Joseph was an infidel? " 

'' Yes, that he was I have not the slightest doubt. 
What proofs have I? Well, my general and intimate 
knowledge of his character. And is it possible that a 
man, who ascribes all kinds of impudent lies to the Lo7^d, 
could have been anything else but an infidel ? " 

"Did you ever see the celebrated peepstone?" 

" No, I never saw it and I never saw Joseph giving a 
revelation. But Hyrum told me once that Joseph, in his 
younger yfars, used to hunt for hidden treasures icith a 
peepstone." 

" Was .Joseph a habitual drunkard? " 

" I don't believe he was. I only saw him drunk once. 
I found Joseph and H^^rum at a place where they kept 
quantities of wine. I remember that Joseph drank 
heavily, and that I talked to Hyrum, begging him to take 
his brother away, but that was the only time I saw the 
prophet drunk." 

"Have you ever heard of the old woman that was 
drowned in the interest of the church ? " 

"I have heard of a woman being put aside. They 
said she had been brought over the river and buried 
on an island near the shore or on the other shore, 
near the water. But at that time I did not believe a 
word o 
them." 



APPENDIX. 511 

" Did you ever hear of abortion being practiced in 
Nauvoo ? " 

'* Yes. There was some talk about Joseph getting no 
issue from all the women he had intercourse with. Dr. 
Foster spoke to me about the fact. But I don't remem- 
ber what was told about abortion. If I heard things of 
the kind, I didn't believe in them at that time. Joseph 
was very free in his talk about his women. He told me 
one day of a certain girl and remarked, that she had 
given him more pleasure than any girl he had ever en- 
joyed. I told him it was horrible to talk like this." 

' ' What do you know about robbery being practiced 
for the benefit of the church ? " 

" That sort of business was kept very secret. Hyrum 
had once a very fine, bran new blue suit, and j^eople told 
me the suit was the produce of the sjyoils of the Gentiles. 
I have no doubt that Hyrum played an important role in 
this department of church affairs. I think I can prove 
it. There was one day a ' little council ' called in Hy- 
rum's office, and I was imited to come. Joseph called 
at my house and took me to the little council. Eight or 
ten were present, all leaders in the church. Hyrum made 
a long argument — said he : * The Missourians have rob- 
bed, plundered and murdered our people. We should 
take our revenge on them as thoroughly as possible and 
regain what we have lost in Missouri. The simplest way 
would be if our people would go to Missouri and buy 
their horses and cattle on credit, and then not pay for them ; 
and our merchants would go to St. Louis and take their 
large quantities of goods on credit and then, when the 
notes became due, simply not pay them ; our people always 
go there and pay for everything. That's foolish, very fool- 
ish, but it is just the thing that, for instance, Brother Law 
is doing. He has paid thousands of dollars there ; but get 
all these things from them for nothing, horses, cattle, and 
goods, that would help the people wonderfully. Our 
merchants should transfer all they have — not only their 
stock in trade, but their lots, houses and farms, too — to 
their wives and friends in general, so that the creditors 
could not get a cent out of them. Some of those present 
applauded the proposition, and said that would be onhj, 
fair. I said nothing. Then somebody said : ' Brother 
Law has said nothing:.* I said ; ' This seems to me not 



512 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

only wrong and unjust, but at the same tinie very ridic- 
ulous, because it is not practicable. You cannot buy 
horses and cattle on credit without having established a 
credit by long trading ; and as to St. Louis, I was al- 
ways of the opinion that the people there had been very 
good to the Mormons. So you would ruin your friends 
to injure your enemies, punish the innocent to hurt 
the guilty. The St. Louis merchants were surely not 
the men that persecuted you in Missouri.' Hyrum got 
up, furious, ready to attack me. But Joseph rose and 
said : ' I move that we adjourn this meeting. Brother 
Law has said his opinion, and that is all you wanted 
from him.' Joseph went home with me and on the way 
he told me that he shared my views fully, and that I had 
exactly spoken his mind. He praised me very much for 
the justice and honesty of my views. ' I did not talk/ 
said he, ' since you took the very words from my lips.' 
I need not tell you that this was diplomacy on Joseph's 
part, but Hyrum hated me from that moment, and never 
forgave me for what I had said at that little council. But 
Hyrum hated me for another reason." 

" Was that in the robbery line, too? " 

'' No. That was from a political reason. It was be- 
cause I opposed him in the dirty political trade he made 
with Hoge against Walker. Walker had bought Joseph's 
influence by declaring that the city charter of Nauvoo se- 
cured the habeas corpus. I stood by them when Joseph 
promised Walker that he should have nine out of every 
ten Mormon votes. But Hyrum went to Galena to meet 
the Democratic convention there, and promised the sup- 
port of the church to Mr. Hoge for a seat in Congress. 
Yes, General Hyrum Smith was to sit in Congress next 
year. Saturday came and I went to Hyrum and had a 
talk with him. He said he would tell the people to vote 
for Hoge, and I said I would oppose him on the stand. 
He made objections, but finally had to consent to my 
speaking on the stand in this matter. When it came to 
the speaking in public Hyrum did all he could to obstruct 
me by putting long-winded speakers on the stand, one 
after the other, so that it was nearly dark when I got on 
the stand. Now, I showed the people how shamefully 
they had treated Mr. Walker, and I made such an 
impression that they began to shout for Mr. Walker. 



APPENDIX, 513 

Then, Hyriim jumped on the stand and declared that he 
had a reA'elation from the Lord, that the people should 
vote for Mr. Hoge. This was Saturday. Sunday morn- 
ing I went to Joseph and told him what Hyrum had 
done. We went over to the meeting and Joseph told 
Hyrum what I had said. Hyrum insisted that he had 
had a revelation. ' Oh,' said Joseph, ' if this is a revela- 
tion, then it is all right,' and he went on the stand and 
said to the people : ' My office is so high, that I could 
not think of bothering the Lord with political affai-rs. 
But Brother Hyrum has had a revelation — when the Lord 
speaks let the people obey.' " 

' ' Had you ever some dramatic scene with Joseph about 
the difficulties between j^ou and him ? " 

"He avoided me. But once I got hold of him in the 
street and told him in very plain terms what I thought of 
him. I said : ' You are a hypocrite and a vulgar scoun- 
drel^ you want to destroy me.' Instead of knocking me 
down, which he could have done very easily, being so 
much bigger and stronger than I, he went away hurriedly 
without uttering a single word." 

' ' Were you in Nauvoo when the Expositor press was 
destroyed?" 

"'No, I was in Caithage. There was a meeting at the 
court house, many people were present and it was con- 
sidered what should ue done regarding the Mormons. I 
think Stephen A. Douglas was present at the meeting. 
My friends urged me to come to Carthage with the press 
immediately. No conclusion was arrived at, however. 
The same evening we went home and when we came to 
Nauvoo we rode over our type, that was scattered in the 
street, and over our broken office furniture. The work 
of Joseph's agents had been very complete ; it had been 
done by a mob ol about 200. The building, a new, pretty 
brick structure, had been perfectly gutted, not a bit had 
been left of anythhig." 

''Had anything been prepared for a second mmiber?" 

"Yes, the inside of number two had been set up. 
Seeing what had been done, I took my abode, for safety's 
sake, at my brother's. I left Nauvoo on a large, new 
steam ferry-boat, which transported me, my family and 
my brother to Burlington, Iowa. While we had people 
packing our things in my house, we rode, my brother and 



5U TRE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

I, thi'ough the city in an open carriage, to show that we 
were not afraid." 

"Did you ever see Joseph again after you left Nau- 
voo?" 

" Only once. I saw him in Carthage at the trial. We 
spoke not to each other, and he seemed greatly preoccu- 
pied. We left NauYOO on the second day after the pass- 
ing of the ordinance which put the press under the abso- 
lute will of Joseph and his creatures. This ordinance 
gave them power to imprison and fine us at liberty. " 

" What opinion have you of G-overnor Ford?" 

"Ford made a good impression upon me; he was 
surely a good, straight man." 

" What kind of a life did the prophet lead in Nauvoo?" 

"Joseph lived in great plenty. He entertained his 
friends and had a right good time. He was a jolly fel- 
low. I don't think that in his family tea and coffee were 
used, but they were served to the strangers whom he en- 
tertained as tavern-keeper. At least, I suppose so. The 
Smiths had plenty of money. Why, when I came to 
Nauvoo I paid Hyrum $700 in gold for a barren lot, and 
at that rate they sold any amount of lots after having got 
the land very cheap, to be sure. Their principle was to 
weaken a man in his purse, and in this way take power 
and influence from him. Weaken everybody, that was 
their motto. Joseph's maxim was, when you have taken 
all the money a fellow has got, you can do with him 
whatever you please." 

"What became of Dr. Bennett?" 

" The last thing I heard of him was that he went up 
the river with a large lot of fancy fowls, a speculation of 
his. " 

" What do you know about the revelation on polyg- 
amy?" 

" The way I heard of it was that Hyrum gave it to me 
to read. I was never in a High Council where it was 
read, all stories to the contrary notwithstanding. Hy- 
rum gave it to me in his office, told me to take it home 
and read it, and then be careful with it, and bring it back 
again. I took it home, read it and showed it to my wife. 
She and I were just turned upside down by it ; we did 
not know what to do. I said to my wife, that I would 
take it over to Joseph and ask him about it. I did not 



APPENDIX. 515 

believe that he would acknowledge it, and I said so to 
my wife. But she was not of my opinion. She felt 
perfectly sure that he would father it. When I came 
to Joseph and showed him the paper, he said : ' Yes, that 
is a genuine revelation.' I said to the prophet : ' But 
in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants there is a revela- 
tion just the contrary of this. ' O/i,' said Joseph, ' that 
teas given ivhen the church icas in its infancy, then it icas 
all right to feed the 2')eople on milk, hut now it is necessary 
to give them strong meat J We talked a long time about 
it ; finally our discussion became very hot, and we gave 
it up. From that time on the breach between us became 
more open and more decided every day, after having 
been prepared for a long time. But the revelation gave 
the finishing touch to my doubts, and showed me clearly 
that he was a rascal. I took the revelation back to my 
wife and told her that Joseph had acknowledged it. 
' That is what I fully expected,' said she. ' What shall 
we do?' said I. She advised me to keep still, try to sell 
my property quietly for what I could get. But I did not 
follow her advice. My heart was burning, I wanted to 
tread upon the viper." 

" You returned the revelation to Hyrum?" 

''Yes, I did. I was astonished to see in your book 
that the revelation was such a long document. I re- 
member DISTINCTLY that the original given me by Hyrum 
was arucH shorter. It covered not more than tico or three 
pages of foolscap. The contents are substantially the 
same, but there was not that theological introduction. 
The thing consisted simply in the command of doing it, 
and that command was restricted to the High Priesthood 
and to virgins and ividows. But as to Joseph, himself, 
the Lord's chosen servant, it was restricted to virgins 
only, to clean vessels, from which to procure o, pure seed 
to the Lord." 

' ' In what manner would Joseph succeed to keep you 
and others from knowing what was going on behind the 
curtain ? " 

" Marks, Yves, I, and some others had, for a long 
time, no idea of the depravity that was going on. This 
was simply the result of a very smart system adopted by 
the prophet and his intimate friends like Brigham Young, 
Kimball, and others. They first tried a man to see 



51g THE PBOPIIET OF PALMYBA. 

whether they could make a criminal tool out of him» 
Wheu they felt that he would Bot be the stuff to make a 
criminal of, they kept him outside the inner circle and 
used him to show him up as an example of their religion, 
as a good, virtuous, universally respected brother." 

"Was Joseph a coward?" 

" Yes, he was a coward and so was Hyrum. You see 
it already in the fact that when I attacked him on the 
street with most violent words, he did not dare to answer 
a word." 

" How did the prophets dress ? " 

"Joe and Hyrum were always dressed well, generally in 
blue, sometimes in black. Joseph was a fine man, no 
doubt of it." 

" How was it with Joseph's wi'estling?" 

"The forces of the prophet in this line have been ex- 
aggerated. My brother Wilson wrestled once with him, 
and he laid him down on the floor like a baby. Wilson 
could throw a lead bar much farther than Joe could. 
But Wilson was an uncommonly fine and strong man, 
over six feet. He could hold a weight of 56 pounds on 
his little finger and write his name on the wall in big 
letters. Joseph was flabby ; he never worked at any- 
thing and that probably made him so. Eockwell did 
everything about the house." 

" Had you any idea that there was a sort of conspir- 
acy to kill Joseph in jail ? " 

"No, I had no idea, no idea. I had been ruined by 
that man ; all my property was gone ; all my dearest il- 
lusions destroyed, and through my connection with him 
I got a black spot on my life, which will pain me to the 
very last minute of my existence. But I tell you [the 
old gentleman buried his head in his hands, and when he 
removed them, his eyes were wet], I tell you, no, if I had 
had any idea of any such scheme, I icould have taken steps 
to stop it. I have always considered the killing of Joseph 
Smith a wrong action. It is my opinion that he deserved 
his fate fully, much more than thousands of men who 
paid the penalty of their crimes to Judge Lynch — but I 
would have preferred that he should have been tried by 
court and sent to the Penitentiary.^' 

" Did you practice medicine in Nauvoo, Doctor?" 

" Only occasionally. I came to Nauvoo with money. 



APFEXDIX. 517 

I had had a mill in Canada, alread3\ Joseph said to me : 
' You must not be a doctor here. Bu}^ lands, build mills, 
and keep a store to keep you running. As to practicing 
and not makiug anj'thiug, let some Gentiles come and do 
that. You look out for business and profit. I practiced, 
however, occasioualh^. Once John Taylor was taken 
with a very malignant fever. He was treated by his reg- 
ular physician, I think Dr. AYells was his name. He grew 
worse and worse. At last I was called in, saw him, and 
prescribed for him. They followed my prescriptions and 
he got better. This is, I believe, the worst thing I did 
in Xauvoo or anywhere else ! " — Dr. Law followed this 
joke with a chuckle, so as to give me to understand that 
it was a sin to cure so gi'eat a rascal. 

' ' What kind of men were the other editors of the Ex- 
positor V 

" Dr. Foster was a fine physician and surgeon and a 
very agreeable, lively, interesting man. The Higbees 
had been very good friends of Joseph in Missouri, and 
had sensed his cause there with a kind of boyish en- 
thusiasm. Frank died long ago and Chauncey only lately. 
He had studied law, was an attorney, and sat on the 
bench for awhile. He was quite intelligent. The father 
of the Higbees had been an excellent man. He died 
rather suddenly, and from that time there was something 
between his boys and Joseph." 

" What kind of a physician was Dr. Bennett?" 
" He was a physician of the old school. I could not 
say whether he was very successful as a doctor or not. 
He was so much occupied for Joseph, that he had no 
time to attend the sick." 

" Did Joseph pay any salary to this Bismarck of his ? " 
" I don't know, but in that honejmioon of favor, which 
he enjoyed in his first Nauvoo time, Joseph gave him 
surely all he wanted." 

" Did you ever hear Joseph speak of his money?" 
"Oh, yes, he used to boast of his riches. He ex- 
pressed the opinion, that it was all-important that he 
should be rich. I heard him say myself, ' It would be 
better that every man in the church should lose his last 
cent, than that I should fail and go down,' " 



518 THE FBOFHET OF FALIIYBA, 

GOVERNOR WEST AND THE POLYGAMISTS. 

Following is a verified report of the visit of Governor 
Caleb W. West, of Utah, to the Utah penitentiary, 
May 13, 1886, wherein he states the purpose of his visit, 
and of the conversation which ensued between him and 
Apostle Lorenzo Snow : 

[From Salt Lake Tribune, May 14.] 

Yesterday Governor West, accompanied by Secretary 
Thomas, Register Webb, Marshal Ireland, W. C. Hall, 
Esq., and Adam Patterson, the oflScial reporter of the 
Thu'd District Court, made a Adsit to the Utah Peniten- 
tiary. The object of the visit of the Governor was for 
the purpose of presenting to Lorenzo Snow and the other 
poly ga mists now in the Penitentiary the condition of af- 
fairs resulting from the late decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States in the Snow case, and to say 
on behalf of Judge Zane and Prosecuting Attorney Dick- 
son and himself, that if they would agree in good faith to 
obey the laws hereafter, tliey would recommend them to 
the clemency of President Cleveland. 

The party left the Walker House at 1 :30 p. m., and 
arrived at the Penitentiary at 2 ;30 p. m. Upon arriving 
there they were received by Warden Dow and conducted 
into one of the apartments of the building outside the 
wall. Apostle Lorenzo Snow, at the request of Governor 
West, was brought into the room, when the following 
conversation occurred between the Governor and Apostle 
Snow; 

Governor West — Mr. Snow, I suppose you are advised 
of the action of the Supreme Court in your case ? 

Snow — ^Yes, sir ; I have heard they have concluded 
they had no jurisdiction in my case. 

Governor — Of course you are aware that that detenni- 
nation by that court makes final the decision of that case 
by the Supreme Court here. 

Snow — I suppose so. 

Governor — Under those circumstances, of course, that 
is now the law because it is the decision of the highest 
judicial tribunal to which it could be submitted, and I 
conceive that it would be a very opportune time to call 
and submit to you a proposition, which, in conjunction 
with Judge Zane and Mr. Dickson, we have thought ad- 



APPENDIX. 519 

visable to make, in order to show you and the people of 
the Territory that they are mistaken in believing that 
those charged with the execution of the laws in the Ter- 
ritory are animated by any spirit of malice or vindictive- 
ness toward the'people who are in the majority in the Terri- 
tory ; that on the contrary their only wish and only desire ; 
one which is nearest to their hearts, is to have the people 
of the Territory obey and respect the law. Upon consul- 
tation with Judge Zane and Mr. Dickson, and they sup- 
porting the view that I have suggested, I have come to 
say to you and your people here that we would unite in a 
petition to the executive to issue his pardon in these 
cases upon a promise, in good faith, that you will obey 
and respect the laws, and that you will continue no longer 
to live in violation of them. 

Snow — Well, Governor, so far as I am concerned per- 
sonally, I am not in conflict with any of the laws of the 
country. I have obeyed the laws as faithfully and con- 
scientiously as I can thus far, and I am not here because of 
disobedience of any law. I am here wrongfully con- 
victed and wrongfully sentenced. 

Governor — Yes, but that is from your standpoint. Of 

course, that is a question 

Snow — No, no ; perhaps you misunderstand me. I 
don't mean particularly and exclusively the Edmunds 
law ; I mean the laws of the land that I consider su- 
preme — 

Governor — The law is exactly what the court says it 
is. If you are here under a conviction of that kind and 
your intention was to obey the law, as you say jou have 
done, then you can sacrifice nothing if you promise to 
obey the law in the future. You then rid yourself of a 
conviction which you say is wrongful, and j^ou protect 
yourself from a future prosecution if you obey the laws. 
Snow — Well, but Governor, w^hy should this be re- 
quired of me, inasmuch as I certainly have not as yet 
disobeyed the laws ? The law has been wrongfully and 
illegally administered in the case of man}^ of us here in 
the Pen- 
Governor — But we have to submit to the law as admin- 
istered by its agents and properly constituted authorities. 
Not one of us, as a citizen, has a right to put liis opinion 
against that determination. We are bound to submit to 



520 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA. 

the construction of the laws Trhich the court gives. 'We 
cannot adopt our own construction and follow that, be- 
cause the decisions of the coui'ts constitute what the law 
is. You are too intelligent a man to have asked me the 
question why you should be required to make such a 
prouiise as that, because you know very well you have 
taught and believed that certain practices are right which 
the law has put its ban upon. It has been said by our 
law-making power that it is not right, and not only that, 
but such practices cannot be tolerated in this land, and 
that punishment will follow a violation of it. 

Snow — I defy any man to come forward and testify 
that I have taught any person to disobey the laws. 
There is no person that can come forward and testify to 
that. 

Governor — That has been the teaching of the body that 
you belong to. 

Snow — It has been in the past, but it has not been with 
me in the present. 

Governor — I am not talking about the past. Of course, 
I don't care to discuss that. I say you are here under a 
conviction in a couit for a past offense, and I come to 
propose that the Federal officials unite in asking the 
President for pardon for you and others to relieve you 
from any punishment you may have incm'red, if you, in 
good faith, for the future submit yourselves to the laws 
as interpreted and construed by the courts. 

Snow — Well, now. Governor, of coui'se there is no use 
wasting time on this. If you ask me if I renounce the 
principles of plui'al marriage, I will answer you at once. 

Governor — Xo ; that is not the question. The question 
I ask you is, will you agree, in good faith, sincerely, in 
the future to respect and obey the laws as interpreted by 
the courts, which I and every other good citizen ought to 
do and must do, and failing to do, incur punishment? 

Snow — I was once asked that same question in the First 
District Court at Ogden, and I expressed to the Court 
my wishes that I should not be required to answer that 
question. I considered it a question that they had no 
business to ask. I had obeyed the laws and had been 
convicted illegally and wrongfully, and I did not consider 
it was a personal question as to the future. 

Governor — I understand that. That was a question 



APPENDIX. 521 

that was asked you in court, and you had a right to de- 
cline to answer. Now, I come with the earnest desire to 
save misery and trouble to the people with whom 1 am to 
be associated officiall}", and I have it very near to my 
heart, if possible, to relieve tlie people here of a great 
deal of unnecessary suffering, because I am satisfied that all 
this suffering, so far as the protection of the peculiar insti- 
tution which you have established is concerned, is uesless ; 
that it will do no good whatever — not one particle— and that 
all the sacrifices which you make, and all the sufferings 
which you endure, will go for naught. I come with that 
spirit and with those motives. 

Snow — ^Yes, I presume so ; but my views are entirely 
different from that — directly opposite. The result will 
not be the one that you anticipate. I speak with knowl- 
edge and you speak with your opinion. I speak in refer- 
ence to knowledge, and am perfectly convinced that the 
result will be widely different from that which you state. 
No doubt there will be a great deal of suffering, but I, 
as one — and I presume it is so with a great majority of 
this people — am ready to take the consequences. We 
believe in a certain principle, and that principle is dear 
to our hearts, and we are willing to suffer as the ancients 
did. We honor the law administered rightfully. 

Governor — ^You have come to the question exactly 
which I was just going to suggest to you. That being 
your state of feeling, that being your avowed course of 
action, yon ought, then, to do the officials in this Territory 
the justice to say that the}^ are not to blame for this state 
of affairs ; that your own conduct and your own position 
puts you in disobedience to the laws ; that while you suf- 
fer the suffering is incurred by your action and not by 
any spirit of malice or any desire upon the part of the 
Government or those who represent it to do you an in- 
jury or to cause this suffering ; because, you see, my ob- 
ject and purpose here now is to unite in an effort to re- 
lieve you, but you, by the position you take, preclude any 
such position being taken ; you voluntarily and obdu- 
rately place yourselves in this position. Therefore, com- 
mon fairness should require you not to say and not to 
publish to the world that you are being persecuted, 
hounded, maliciously and vindictively pursued by the 
Federal officials who are intrusted with the administration 
of the laws. 



522 THE FBOPHET OF PALMTBA, 

Snow — Oh, no more so than Jesus Christ and the 
Apostles. They had these same things to suffer and 
practiced the same gospel ; and we expect that inasmuch 
as we have espoused the same religion and the same prin- 
ciples that they proclaimed, and for which they lost theu' 
lives, that we will have to suffer, and we are willing to do 
it. 

Governor — ^You are not being persecuted for opinion's 
sake. 

Snow— Oh, no more than the Roman Empire perse- 
cuted the Apostles for opinion's sake. They arrayed 
themselves in disobedience to the laws of the country 
they were in. It was the laws that condemned them to 
death, and it was the Jewish law that condemned Jesus. 

Governor — ^You are getting off the question and getting 
upon a question that is so wide that we would have to 
lengthen our lives to discuss it. I came here with sim- 
ply one purpose and desire, which was if I could possibly, 
by any effort on my part with the concurrence on your 
part of obedience to the laws, to relieve you from any 
suffering. You must look at this matter just as it stands. 
The courts have construed this law, and their construc- 
tion of it is the law, and we have no right to say anything 
else. And when you get out if you continue the course 
which you have pursued, do the same acts again, it wiU. 
simply be a temporary relief from here — back you have 
to come. 

Snow — I expect so. I presume that would be the 
case. 

Governor — ^AYell, now you are suffering and you are 
causing others to suffer, and you are injuring the pros- 
perity of the Territory, and all for no good purpose. 
You cannot accomplish anything by it. That will not re- 
peal the laws, nor will it benefit you in anyway ; because 
in prison here, you don't enjoy the liberty that is guaran- 
teed by the laws to every law-abiding man ; you cannot have 
the pleasures of home which are protected by the law, and 
you are suffering here without benefit. 

Snow — Exactly, but I have no confidence in the courts. 
Even if I was to make a promise, I have no idea in the 
world that the courts would administer us justice. Let 
them first administer us justice and administer the laws 
correctly and then we will see. 



APPENDIX. 523 

Governor — ^Yes, but that is your own individual opin- 
ion, that the laws are not administered correctly. 

Snow — It is your individual opinion that they are. 

Governor — I beg your pardon. We must not be too 
egotistical. I did not make the laws, and I do not say 
w^hat the laws are ; on the contrary, I am taking the de- 
cisions of the courts. I can take the legislative acts and 
read them and I may think I know what the law is and 
go into court, and the court says that is not the law. 
Therefore, I must take the law as decided by the courts, 
and so must every law-abiding man. It seems to me you 
cannot say that you have no confidence in the protection 
of the courts and the officials here 

Snow — I have no confidence whatever. 

Governor — You ought not to say that you have no con- 
fidence in the protection of the courts and officials unless 
you believe that I have come here under false pretences 
and that Judge Zane 

Snow — Oh, no. 

Governor — That Judge Zane and Mr. Dickson, who 
have concurred with me, are not doing it in good faith. 
That is the only way you can say that, because you 
must have confidence in us or you must believe we 
are not acting in good faith. You know it is a very 
unusual thing to see officials who are charged with 
the execution of the laws, coming as I have done, and 
with the concurrence of those men, to say that if you will 
give your promise, in good faith, that you will observe 
this law that we will unite to have you relieved from the 
convictions against you. Ordinarily offenders have suf- 
fered for the offenses they have committed, and have no 
chance to promise reformation with the chance of being 
relieved from puishment. So you must have confidence 
if you believe in our sincerity. 

Snow — I certainly believe in your sincerity, but you 
are not the court. As to Dickson and as to Zane I have 
no confidence in them at all. 

Governor — Mr. Snow, I think you are very unjust in 
that opinion, because I know^ that this suggestion that I 
make 

Snow — If you had suffered you would think differ- 
ently. 

Governor — But you are charging the suffering to them 



524 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA 

wrongfully, I think. They do not make the laws, they 
execute them, and the suffering occurs from your disobe- 
dience of the laws. You are responsible for the suffer- 
ing, not Judge Zane nor Mr. Dickson, and I tell you, 
you do them great injustice ; because from all the conver- 
sations I have had with them, and all their conduct dur- 
ing the short time I have been here, I am sure those 
men are animated by a good purpose ; an earnest desire 
that the people of this Territory obey the law, and they 
take no pleasure in the suffering which is caused by diso- 
bedience of the laws. 

Snow — They send us here without a particle of evi- 
dence. It is through the counsel given to the jury by 
the Judge — by Judge Zane, who is influenced by Dick- 
son. I have not a particle of confidence in those men. 
If you had come entirely alone without the names of 
those men, we would have more confidence in the propo- 
sitions. 

Governor — You can have confidence in the propositions 
whether I tell you or they, because they are made in en- 
tire good faith. 

Snow — What did I tell you in the talk we had the 
other day in reference to the Supreme Court ? 

Governor — That Supreme Court has a duty to perform . 
Of course it could not take jurisdiction of the case which 
was not within its jurisdiction. 

Snow — They took jurisdiction in the first case that went 
up there. 

Governor — Of course ; then, if they were wrong in the 
first place, I would not have so great a respect for them 
if they did not turn around and rectify it in the other 
case. Of course you can have what opinions you please 
about the courts or the officials ; but, as I say, no good 
citizen can have an opinion which will justify him in vio- 
lating the law — none. There is no excuse for that. 

Snow — ^All right. 

Governor— Of course I did not know what the result 
of this would be, but I came with the disposition to show 
you and the people here that there is an opportunity iov 
them to escape the punishment they have incurred if they 
should conform to the law, and escape the misery and 
trouble they are enduring now in consequence of their 
violation of the law. 



ATFENDIX. 525 

Snow — If Judge Zane and Dickson wish to take the 
course to obtain any proposition from me in this matter, 
let them first release me and my friends from the peni- 
tentiary. 

Governor — They could not do it ; nobody but the Pres- 
ident could. 

Snow — Well, we do not ask it. 

[Heretofore literal — hereafter condensed.] 

Apostle Snow then went on at some length to recite the 
story of their experience in Illinois and Missouri claiming 
that similar persecutions to what they endured there, 
were being inflicted here and with the same spirit. 

The Governor replied that the refutation of the posi- 
tion that it was a persecution for religion's sake lay in 
the fact that we had hundreds and hundreds of different 
denominations in the United States, and none but the 
people here had ever any such complaint to make. 

To this Snow replied that was because they were man- 
made Christians, while the Mormons were God's people, 
and that made all the difference, and started on the sub- 
ject of modern revelation, a subject which the Governor 
was not disposed to discuss. 

Snow also claimed again that he had conformed to the 
laws. 

The Governor said he thought that was a mistake ; 
that the court and jury had found otherwise, and that 
our conduct must be regulated not by the individual's 
own construction of the law but by the decisions of the 
courts. 

Snow then repeated what he had formerly said in court 
at Ogden in regard to his intention to obey the law in the 
future — that he thought it was an improper question and 
that he told the Judge so. 

Governor West then said that Mr. Snow's responsibil- 
ity, on account of the position he held, was much greater 
than that of many others convicted of the same offense ; 
that by his conduct many a heart would ache and many 
a tear would flow that he would be responsible for, which 
might be saved if he would obey the law and use his influ- 
ence and control among the people to have them do like- 
wise. 

Mr. Snow said they had an object in view ; that there 
would be a change eventually, but how much suffering 



526 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

there would be between this time and that period he could 
not say, but they were prepared to go through it. He 
would not promise to obey the law, "even if you were 
the President of the United States, although you said the 
other day he is a better man than yon are." He had 
about the same regard for Dickson's official career that 
he had for the Jews for killing our Saviour. 

The Governor then explained to Snow that he had had 
him called out in order that he might first have a talk with 
him in detail on the matter, but that he was going inside 
to make the same offer to the other prisoners confined on 
similar sentences. Snow said he would not speak a word 
to them in relation to it, but should leave it to the indi- 
vidual judgment of each person. 

Snow received the kindly propositions of the Governor 
coolly, and by an occasional sneer upon his countenance 
manifested in a careless way his utter indifference to the 
great opportunity presented to him. He several times 
tried to draw the Governor into a religious discussion, 
but was unsuccessful. 

The party then entered the enclosure and found that 
all the prisoners confined who were not charged with un- 
lawful cohabitation had been caused to retire to the east 
side and those convicted of the latter offense were assem- 
bled in the large room near the southwest corner of the 
enclosure. The Governor then spoke to them as follows : 

"I have simply come to announce to you something 
which you probably know. The Supreme Court of the 
United States has rendered a decision dismissing the ap- 
peal in certain cases in which a construction of the law 
under which you are sentenced is involved, and the tri- 
bunal which has the construction and settlement of w^hat 
the law is, having decided it, and you all being aware 
now of your duty under the law, it occurred to me as a 
very opportune time to come here and make a proposi- 
tion to you which had suggested itself to my mind for 
your relief. That proposition is made after a consulta- 
tion with Judge Zane and with Mr. Dickson, and it is, that 
we would all concur in a petition of the President to re- 
lieve you from the effect of the sentences which you are 
now suffering, for disobedience of the law, if you would 
in good faith and sincerity, agree to respect and obey 
the laws as interpreted by the courts. 



APPENDIX, 627 

*' You know that the effect of the decision which has 
been rendered, and which is the hiw of the land beyond 
question and beyond controversy, is that if you get free 
here and continue in the same course of life that brought 
you here, that it is only a question of how long you live 
as to how long you will be kept in a place like this. 
Now, it is the desire of the Federal officials here, if pos- 
sible, to relieve you from past punishment if in the fu- 
ture you will be subservient and obedient to the laws. 

"That is all I came for, and I came with the honest, 
earnest, and sincere desire that as many of you as will 
accept of this proposition will relieve yourselves from this 
punishment and not incur it in the future. This is all I 
have to say, except that the proposition is made with all 
earnestness and sincerit}^, and with a great desire that 
some, if not all, will avail themselves of it. It is a mat- 
ter for you to determine, however, and it is submitted to 
you in that way. I hope you will take it under consider- 
ation and think about it. I hope that, in good faith and 
sincerity, you will try to avail yourselves of our efforts 
in your behalf. If any of you are disposed to make this 
agreement in good faith, and you are not prepared to do it 
now ; if you are prepared at any future time you can let 
the Marshal know it and he will convey the information 
to me, and I will give the matter such attention as is 
proper to have you speedily released." 

This speech was received in silence, with a cunning 
leer on many faces. Apostle Snow sneeringly asked : 
" Would you wish to take a vote on it?" 

Governor — No, sir ; I don't care for any expression 
now, except that if any parties are willing they can say 
so now, and if not, I prefer to let it pass until they are 
willing. 

Abraham H. Cannon asked the question what they 
should do with their wives, and such questioning was 
continued at considerable length and very informally af- 
ter they were all outside the building. The Governor 
said he was not there to expound the law ; the only ad- 
vice he could give them was to obey the laws as interpreted 
by the courts. Cannon remarked that the interpreta- 
tions of the courts were various and so conflicting that 
he would like to be informed how they were to know what 
tho law was. The Governor replied that he thought with 



528 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYBA, 

Mr. Cannon's education and intelligence if he went about 
it earnestly he would have very little difficulty in ascer- 
taining what the law was. 

Then followed for a few minutes a general conversa- 
tion, several of the prisoners gathering round each of the 
visitors and plying them with questions. "What must 
we do with our wives and children ? " " Who can tell us 
what the courts require?" "Judge Zane requires one 
thing, Judge Powers another ; whom are we to obey ? " 
"Am I expected to declare my children illegitimate ? " 
etc., to all of which there was but one answer. As- one 
of them mournfully remarked : "We have got to give 
in or stay here for the balance of our lives." 

The Governor and party, after good-natured adieus, 
left the penitentiary at 3 : 30 p. m., arriving at the Walker 
House an hour later. Thus ended a kindly meant but 
fruitless mission. 

I hereby certify that the foregoing is a correct report of 
the interview at the Utah Penitentiary between Gov. West, 
Lorenzo Snow, and others. It is literal so far as it pur- 
ports to be ; and the balance of it (that which is put in 
narrative form) is a fair and correct condensation of 
the same. I am stenographic reporter of the Third Ju- 
dicial District Court of Utah Territory. 

A. S. Patterson. 

[Governor West also affirmed the correctness of this 
interview in a telegram to the Hon. R. N. Baskia. — ^Ed. 
Tribune.] 

A CHARACTERISTIC DOCUMENT. 

An apology may be considered due for the introduc- 
tion into these pages of such an indecent and disgusting 
document as the following. Yet the public have a right 
to know just what Mormonism is and was during the days 
of its founders. To supply this knowledge truly and 
faithfully is one of the purposes of this work ; and we 
therefore feel justified in adding what follows to the al- 
ready vast accumulation. 

Whilst sojourning in Northwest Missouri, the Prophet 
issued at the Stake of Far West, a paper called the El-> 



APPENDIX. 529 

ders' Journal. It was designed to be and was accepted 
as the church organ, and was controlled and edited by 
Joseph Smith himself, though it is understood that Sid- 
ney Rigdon was a regular writer for its pages. Which 
of these two is responsible for the article in question, we 
have now no means of knowing other than is contained 
within itself. 

During that period, only a short time previous to the 
breaking up and expulsion from that State, there Avas 
much dissension and insubordination among the brethren, 
both in the West and in Ohio. A number were rebellious 
and were cut off — turned over to the buffetings of Satan 
— to use a familiar expression of the period. Among 
those rebellious ones were the individuals named below — 
two of whom had been editors of the church organs, two 
were of the Twelve Apostles, and the oth^-s had held 
high positions. 

In this Elders' Journal — date not now at hand — ap- 
peared the following, which is given nearly entire ; and 
because of its disgusting character, we hide it away in 
this Appendix. Its genuineness is nut to be disputed, as 
reference to that journal will show. 

It will be remembered that Smith and Rigdon and their 
followers were all this time posing as Saints of the Most 
High, and that the first named claimed to be commis- 
sioned from Heaven to do a great work for the Salvation 
of the world, while Sidney was to aid him. This is one 
of the ways they adopted for doing it. 



Dissenters and Priests. 

[From the Elders' Journal.] 

... If we did not know, that the people of this generation 
love lies more than the truth, or at least a great many of 
them, it would be a matter of some astonishment to us, 
to see with what eagerness they give credence to every 
hypocrite, and iniquitous wretch we detect in his wicked- 
ness, and bring to an account. It matters not how scan- 
dalous is his conduct, the priests and all their coadjutors 
rally around them the very moment they are excluded 
from the church, and listen with most intense interest to 
their lies ; and soon the papers are filled with their lies 
and abominations. But such is the piteous situation of 



530 THE PBOFHET OF FALMYBA. 

the priests of all denominations, for there are no excep- 
tions to be made : for, to say the least of them, they 
have pleasure in lies ; but in the truth they have no 
pleasure, neither have they any part. Within the last six 
months they have been making one of their greatest ef- 
forts. The church, in accordance with her laws, excluded 
from her fellowship a set of creatures, whose behav- 
ior would have disgraced a Heathen Temple ; and ,as 
might have been expected, they had recourse to the foul- 
est lying and basest slander, in order to hide their 
iniquity. This seemed as a favorable opportunity, to 
the persecuting priests and their adherents. They gath- 
ered round them in swarms, like the flies around ^sop's 
foxes, and opened both their eyes and ears, to enjoy a 
good feast of lies, which pleased them more abundantly 
than any other sound could, except the voice of Beelze- 
bub, the Prince of the whole brood ; his voice would doubt- 
less have been been more delightful to them than an an- 
gel of light to the ear of a Prophet of the living God. 
All these pious soul's papers were put into requisition ; 
and this gang of horse-thieves and drunkards were called 
upon immediately, to wi*ite their lies on paper, and let 
them print them, so that all the world might have as 
great a feast of lies as they had. Accordingly, to work 
they all went, with one accord ; and after this mighty 
mountain of bustle and human follj", had filled its full 
time of gestation, behold, and lo ! it brought forth a mouse 
from the bowels of Mr. Warren Parrish, and the priest's 
papers have flown abroad to tell the world of it ! No an- 
imal, we presume, has been produced in the last century, 
which caused more agony, pain and groaning, than this 
wonder of modern times ; for during the time of gestation, 
and a long time before the birth thereof, he kept up such 
an unusual groaning and grunting, that all the devil's 
whelps in Geauga and Cuyahoga counties, of Ohio, were 
running together, to see what was about to come forth 
from the womb of granny Parrish. He made such an 
awful fuss about what was conceived in him, that 
night after night, and day after day, he poured forth his 
agony before all living, as they saw proper to assemble. 
For a rational being to have looked at him, and heard 
him groan and grunt, and saw him sweat and struggle, 
would have supposed that his womb was as much swol- 



APPENDIX. 631 

len as was Eebecca's when the angel told her that there 
were two nations there. In all this granting business 
he was aided by Leonard Rich ; who, however, was gen- 
erally so drunk that he hnd to support himself by some- 
thing, to keep him from falling down ; but then it was all 
for conscience sake. Also a pair of young black-legs ; 
one of them a Massachusetts shoemaker, by the name of 
John F. Boynton ; a man notorious for nothing but ignor- 
ance, ill-breeding, and impudence ; and the other by the 
name of Luke Johnson, whose notoriety consisted, if in- 
formation be correct, in stealing a barrel of flour from 
his father, and other acts of a similar kind. Thus aided 
Mamma Parrish made a monstrous effort to bring forth ; 
and when the full time of gestation was come, the won- 
der came forth, and the priests who were in waiting, 
seized the animal at its birth, rolled it up in their papers 
and sent it abroad to the world. But Eich, Boynton, 
and Johnson, in the character of midwives, waited around 
the bed of Mamma Parish to get away the after-birth ; 
but awful to relate ! they no sooner got it away than 
Mamma expired, and the poor bantling was left in the 
hands of the priests to protect and nurse it, without any 
other friend. A short time after the delivery of granny 
, Parrish, a little ignorant blockhead, by the name of 
Stephen Burnett, whose heart was so set on money, that he 
would at any time sell his soul for fifty dollars, and then 
think that he had made an excellent bargain ; and who 
had got wearied of the restraints of religion, and could 
not bear to have his purse taxed, hearing of the delivery 
of granny Parrish, ran to Kirtland, got into the Temple, 
and tried with all his power to bring forth something, no- 
body knows what, nor did he know, himself ; but he thought 
as granny Parrish had been fruitful, so must he ; but 
after some terrible gruntings, and finding nothing coming 
but an abortion, rose up in his anger, proclaiming all 
revelation lies, and ran home to his daddy with all 
his might, not leaving even an egg behind, and there sat 
down and rejoiced in the great victory he had obtained 
over the great God, and all the holy angels ; how he had 
discovered them liars and impostors. 

There was also a kind of secondary attendant, that 
waited upon this granny of modern libels, whose name is 
Sylvester Smith ; in his character there is something no- 



532 THE PROPHET OF PALMTBA. 

torious — and that is, that at a certain time in Kii-tland, 
he signed a libel, in order to avoid the punishment due 
to his crimes : and in so doing has disqualified himself 
for taking an oath before any court of justice in the 
United States. That libel can be forthcoming at any 
time, if called for. Thus armed and attended, this mod- 
ern libeller has gone forth to the assistance of the Priests, 
to help them fight against the great God, and against his 
work. HoTv successful they "will be, future events will 
determine. A few words on the history of this Priest's 
help-mate may not be amiss. He went into Kutland, 
Ohio, some few jesivs since to live, and hired his board- 
ing in the house of one Zerah Cole. He had not, how- 
ever, been there but a short time, until Mr. Cole began 
to make a grievous complaint about his taking unlawful 
freedom with his (Cole's) wife. Parrish was accord- 
ingly brought to an account, before the authorities of 
the church for his crime. The fact was established, that 
such unlawful conduct had actually taken place between 
Parrish and Cole's wife. Parrish, finding that he could 
not escape, confessed, and plead for forgiveness like a 
criminal at the bar, promising in the most solemn man- 
ner, that if the church would forgive him , he never would 
do so again — and he was accordingly forgiven. For 
some considerable time there were no outbreakings with 
him, at least, that were known ; but a train of circum- 
stances begun at last to fix guilt on his head, in another 
point of light. He had the handling of large sums of 
money ; and itjwas soon discovered, that after the money 
was counted and laid away, and came to be used and 
counted again, that there was always a part of it missing. 
This being the case repeatedly, those who owned it, know- 
ing that there was no other person but Parrish who had 
access, suspicion, of necessity, fixed itself on him. At 
last the matter went to such length, that a search-warrant 
was called for, to search his trunk. The warrant was de- 
manded at the office of F.G. Williams, Esq. , but he refused 
to grant it ; and some difficulty arose on account of it. 
The warrant was, however, at last obtained, but too late ; 
for the ti'unk in question was taken out of the way, and 
could not be found : but as to his guilt, little doubt can be 
entertained, by those acquainted with the circumstances. 
After this a&air, Parrish began to discover that there 



APPENDIX. 533 

was great iniquity in the church, particularly in the edi- 
tor of this paper, and began to make a public excitement 
about it ; but in a short time he had an opportunity of 
proving to the world the truth of his assertion. A poor, 
persecuting booby, by the name of Grandison Newell, 
and who, in fact, was scarcely a grade above the beasts 
that perish, went and swore out a state's warrant against 
the editor of the paper, — saying he was afraid of his life. 
In so doing, he swore a palpable lie, and everybody knew 
it, and so did tlie court, and decided accordingly. One 
of the witnesses called in behalf of Mr. Newell was War- 
ren Parrish. 

Newell had no doubt but great things would be proven 
by Parrish. When the day of trial, however, came, Par- 
rish was not forthcoming. Ncwell's counsel demanded an 
attachment to bring him forthwith, and accordingly Par- 
rish was brought. But behold the disappointment ! when 
Parrish was called, instead of fulfilling Newell's expecta- 
tion, when asked by the lawyers, " Do you know of any 
thing in the character or conduct of Mr. Smith, which is 
unworthy of his professions as a man of God ? " the answer 
was, " I do not." The countenance of Newell fell ; and if 
he had possessed one grain of human feeling, would have 
went off witli shame ; but of this there is about as much in 
him, as there is in other beasts. In giving the answer 
Parrish did, he has given the lie to all that he has said, 
both before and since ; and his letter, that is now going 
the rounds in the Priest's papers, is an outrageous pack 
of lies, or else he took a false oath at Paynesville. Take 
it which way you will, and the Priests have but a feeble 
help-mate in Granny Parrish ! The truth is, at the time 
Parrish was called on to give testimony, in Paynesville, 
he had not got his nerves so strengthened, as to take a 
false oath, and though he could lie most insufferably, 
still, he had some fear about swearing lies. But no 
doubt if he were called upon now, he Avould swear lies 
as fast as tell them ; since he denies all revelation, all 
angels, all spirits, and has taken tlie liar Sylvester Smith 
by the hand, and become his companion. Some time 
after Parrish had given his testimony at Payuesville, he 
began again to rail. The church would bear it no longer, 
and cut him off. A short time after he was cut off', he 
plead with them to receive him back again, and in order 



534 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTEA. 

to get back, he confessed all he had said to be false, 
asking forgiveness for it, and by much pleading and con- 
fession, and promises of reformation, was received back 
again. Thus, once under oath, and another, and another 
time voluntarily, for the sake of getting back into the 
church, he confessed himself, that all that he had said, and 
all that he had written, were falsehoods ; for his letter that 
is going the rounds in the papers, is no more than a reiter- 
ation of what he had before declared, and denied him- 
self. This is the poor, pitiful resort, then, of the Priests, 
in order to stop the progress of the truth. But this is 
not all concerning Mamma Parrish. The next business 
we find him in, is, robbing the Kirtland bank of twenty- 
five thousand dollars at one time, and large simis at 
others. The managers had in the mean time appointed 
him as Cashier, and F. G-. Williams as President, and they 
managed the institution with a idtness. Parrish had 
stole the paper out of the institution, and went to bujing 
Bogus and counterfeit coin with it, becoming a partner 
with the Tinker's Creek black-legs, and in company with 
Julius Granger, in buj^ng different kinds of property 
with it, and devoting it to his own use, and soon entirely 
destroyed the institution. He was aided by his former as- 
sociates to take his paper, and go and buy Bogus with it, 
from the Tinker's Creek black-legs, and on the way com- 
ing home, they would way-lay Parrish and his gang, and 
rob them, so they would lose the Bogus money at last. 
Parrish sold his horse and carriage for Bogus money, and 
behold when he came home and opened his box of Bogus, 
it was sand and stones. Parrish was somewhat chagrined 
at this, so he gets out a state's warrant, takes his coad- 
jutor, Luke Johnson, and off to Tinker's Creek they go, 
— Johnson a constable ; the pretended object was to take 
the man who had them (the horse and carriage) , one for 
stealing them, and the other as stolen property. Coming 
to the place where they were, Johnson takes after the 
man and drives him into a barn. Parrish in the mean 
time, takes the horse and carriage and clears to Kirtland 
with it. And when Johnson had pretendeclly tried to 
take the man, until he supposed Parrish had got off with 
the horse and carriage, he ceased the pursuit, and went 
home. For this, Parrish was taken by the Sheriff of 
Cuyahoga county, his hands bound behind his back, and 



APPENDIX. 535 

held in custody until he paid two hundred dollars, and if 
he had not paid it, he would have stood a chance for the 
workhouse. Thus, O y^ Priests, what a blessed com- 
pany of associates jov\ have got, to help you on in the 
work of persecution. You ought to rejoice greatly at the 
venerable addition which you have added to j^our num- 
bers. No doubt they are men as much after your own 
hearts, as ever David was after the heart of God : and 
you, Mr. Sunderland in particular, you have, no doubt, 
in Warren Parrish, an helpmate after your own image, 
and your own likeness. Congratulate yourself greatly, 
for having obtained a man after your own heart to help 
you to lie and persecute. O ye Priests ! but j'ou are a 
heaven-born race ! and that all the world may well know, 
by the company you keep ; 3'ou have got Warren Parrish 
for an associate, a man notorious for lying, for adultery, 
for stealing, for swindling, and for villainy of all kinds, 
but for nothing else ; are you not happily yoked together 
with believers, precisely of your own characters ? — Surely 
you are, since it is company of your own choosing. For 
our parts we shall consider it an honor to be belied and 
persecuted by debauchees ; in it we will rejoice as long 
as we have breath, knowing if these men speak well of 
us that we are not doing the will of God, for the friend- 
ship of such is enmity against God, and the friend- 
ship of God is enmity to such. And there, O ye Priests, 
we leave you with your holy company, until it shall be 
said to you all, "Depart 3'e workers of iniquity, into 
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 

There is another character, who has figured somewhat 
in the affairs of Granny Parrish — a Doctor W. A. Cow- 
dery. This x>oory pitiful beggar came to Kirtland a few 
years since, with a large family, nearly naked and desti- 
tute. It was really painful to see this pious Doctor's 
(for such he professed to be) rags flying^ when he walked 
the streets ; he was taken in by us in this pitiful condi- 
tion, and we put him into the printing office, and gave 
him enormous wages, not because he could earn it, or 
because we needed his service, but merely out of pity ; 
we knew the man's incompetency all the time, and his 
ignorance and inability to fill any place in the literary 
world, with credit to himself or his employers ; but not- 
withstanding all this, out of pure compassion, we gave 



536 THE PBOPHET OF PALMYHA. 

him a place, and afterwards hired him to edit the paper 
iu that place, and gave him double as much as he 
could have gotten anywhere else. The subscribers, 
many at least, complained of his inability to edit the 
paper, and there was much dissatisfaction about it, but 
still we retained him in our employ merel}^ that he might 
not have to be supported as a pauper. By our means 
he got himself and family decently clothed and got sup- 
plied with all the comforts of life, and it was nothing 
more nor less than supporting himself and family as 
paupers ; for his services were actually not worth one 
cent to us, but on the contrary was an injury, the own- 
ers of the establishment could have done all the work 
which he did, themselves, just as well without him as 
with him. In reality it was a piece of pauperism, but 
now reader, mark the sequel ; it is a fact of public no- 
toriety, that as soon as he found himself and famity in 
the possession of decent apparel, he began to use all his 
influence to our injury, both in his sayings and doings. 
We have often heard it remarked by slave-holders, that 
you should not make a negro equal with you, or lie would 
try to walk over you ; we have found the saying verified 
in this pious Doctor, for truly niggardly spirit mani- 
fested itself in all its meanness, even in his own writings, 
(and they were very mean at best) . He threw out foul 
insinuations, which no man who has one particle of noble 
feelmg would have condescended to, but such was the 
conduct of this master of manners; nor was this nig- 
gardly cause confined to himself, but his sons also were 
found engaged in the same mean business. His sons, in 
violation of every sacred obligation, were found among 
the number of Granny Parrish men, using all their in- 
fluence, which however was nothing, but they were none 
the less gnilty for that ; for if it had been ever so great it 
would have been used to destroy the benefactors of their 
family from poverty and wretchedness. 

One thing we have learned, that there are negroes who 
wear white skins, as well as those who wear black ones. 
Granny Parrish and a few others who acted as lackies, 
such as Martin Harris, Joseph Coe, Cyrus P. Smalling, 
etc. , but they are so far beneath contempt, that a notice of 
them would be too great a sacrifice for a gentleman to 
make. Having said so much, we leave this hopeful com- 



APPENDIX. 537 

pany, in the new bond of union which they have formed 
with the Priests. 

While they were held under restraint by the church, 
and had to behave with a degree of propriety, at least, 
the Priests manifested the greatest opposition to them ; 
but no sooner were they excluded from the fellowship of 
the church, and gave loose to all kinds of abominations, 
swearing, lying, cheating, swindling, drinking, with every 
other species of debauchery, then the Priests began to 
extol them to the heavens, for their piety and virtue, 
and make friends with them, and call them the fxuest fel- 
lows in the world. Is it any wonder, then, that we say 
of the Priests of modern days, that they are of Satan's 
own making, and are of their father, the Devil? Nay, 
verily, nay, for no being but a scandalous sycophant and 
base hypocrite would say otherwise. Therefore, until 
we have more evidence than we have now, we shall al- 
ways think, when we see men associating with scoun- 
drels, that they themselves are scoundrels ; and there we 
shall leave them for the present, firmlj^ believing, that 
when the day of decision has come, we shall see all the 
priests who adhere to the sectarian religions of the day, 
with all their followers, without an exception, receive 
their portion with the Devil and his angels. 



MRS. EMMA SMITH'S LETTER. 

We have frequentlj^ expressed the opinion that Mrs. 
Emma Hale Smith never had any confidence in the val- 
idity of her husband's claim as "Prophet, Seer, and 
Revelator.'' At the time of her death in Nauvoo, a few 
years ago, her son Joseph and his friends, of the " Re- 
constructed Branch " of the church, had much to say of 
her adherence to the faith, and of her having died in ful 
belief of the truths of Mormonism. 

It is true that in all the later years of her life, and 
since that son had arrived at manhood and had been 
placed in the new Presidential office, she had lived in 
friendly relations with him and his followers. How far 
this condition of affairs may have changed her opinions 
IS not known ; but certain it is, that in her widowhood, 
and while the sou was still a boy, and with no aspu-ations 



538 THE FBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

for a prophet's career, her feelings were otherwise. She 
was a very quiet and unobtrnsive woman, yet on many 
occasions when questioned on the subject, she is re- 
ported to have expressed her unbelief in the sacred char- 
acter of her husband's mission. 

The year 1845 was one of turbulence at Nauvoo. 
Among all the aspirants for the prophet's mantle, Brig- 
ham Young was the successful one, and was preparing 
to lead his followers to Oregon or California. In the 
New York Sun of about Dec. 1, 1845, was published the 
following letter from Mrs. Smith, which goes far to sub- 
stantiate the correctness of our opinion : 

Nauvoo (111.), Nov. 20th, 1845. 
To the Editor of the Neiv YorTi Sun : 

Sir : — I hope to be excused for addressing, for the 
first time in my life, a letter to the Editor of a newspaper, 
and this I have been induced to do from seeing the let- 
ter of G-eneral Arlington Bennett, published in the news- 
papers, urging the jMormon people to remove to the Pa- 
cific Ocean, and advocating the cause of the tyrants, who 
have seized on the government of the Mormon Chui'ch. 
This church, such as it is, was formed by my lamented hus- 
band who was martyred for its sake, and whether true 
or false, has laid down his life for its belief ! 

I am left here, sir, with a family of children to at- 
tend to, without any means of giving them an education 
for there is not a school in the city, nor is it intended 
there shall be any here, or at any other place, where the 
men, who now govern this infatuated, simple-minded 
people, have sway. I have not the least objection that 
these petty tyrants remove to California or any other re- 
mote place, out of the world if they wish ; for they will 
never be of any service to the Mormons, or the human 
family, no matter where they go. Their object is to 
keep the people over whom they rule in the greatest ig- 
norance, and most abject religious bondage, if these 
poor confiding creatures remove with them, they will die 
in the wilderness ! — The laws of the United States are 
quite good enough for me and my children, and my set- 
tled intention is to remain where I am, take care of my 
property, and if I cannot educate my children here, 
send them to New York or New England for that pur- 



APPENDIX. 539 

pose. Many of the Mormons will, no doubt, remove in 
the spring, and many more will remain here : and noth- 
ing would give me greater pleasure than to have a mixed 
society in Nauvoo, as in other cities, and all exclusive 
religious distinctions abolished. 

I must now say, that I never for a moment believed in 
ivhat my husband called his apparitions or revelations^ as 
I thought him laboring under a diseased mind; yet, they 
may all be true, as a Prophet is seldom without credence 
or honor, excepting in his own family or country ; but 
as my conviction is to the contrary, I shall educate my 
children in a different faith, and teach them to obey and 
reverence the laws and institutions of their country. 
Shall I not, sir, be protected in these resolutions against 
the annoyance of the men I now oppose, for they will no 
doubt seek my life ? 

What object Gen. Arlington Bennett has in advocat- 
ing the cause of these tyrants I am unable to understand, 
for he assured me when at m}^ house, that he had not 
the remotest intention of connecting himself in any man- 
ner with them, much less of removing with them to the 
Pacific Ocean. But this is a strange world ; and I would 
not be surprised if they had offered to annoint and crown 
him King or Emperor in the West ! As I have something 
more lo say, I will take the liberty to write you another 
letter. 

With great respect, 

I am, sir, your humble servant, 

Emma Sjhth. 



THE MORMONS OR LATTER-DAY SAINTS. 

Glimpses of the History of Utah and Its Founders. 

From Life Notes, Memory, History and Statistics. 

By J. E. Johnson, St. George, Utah. 

[Note. — Whilst engaged in the preparation of this work, 
the writer was under the necessity of applying to Utah for 
certain documents he needed. These were obtained from the 
gentleman above named, a former citizen of Hancock county, 
Illinois, a strong believer in the creed and mission of Mormon- 
ism. In return for his many acts of kindness during this cor- 
respondence, in forwarding books and papers and responding 
to enquiries, at his suggestion he was promised a hearing in 



540 THE PBOPHEf OF PALMYBA. 

this Appendix, from his own standpoint. He accordingly 
prepared and forwarded the paper which follows — to which a 
place is herein cheerfully given. The intelligent reader and 
all persons acquainted with the history of Mormonism, will 
readily discover its many exaggerations, erroneous statements 
and inferences, and perversion of facts, and be able to correct 
them. It can hardly be expected that Mr. Johnson will live 
to realize the extent of the monstrous delusion under which 
he and his many kindred in Utah have spent their lives, and 
the infamy which the world accords to its originators and 
abettors.*] 

Autobiography. 

On the 18th day of April, 1817, 1 was born of Puritan 
parents, in the then wilds of western New York, — Pom- 
fret, — Chautauqua Co., my parents having recently emi- 
grated from Grafton, Mass. I am one of sixteen chil- 
dren, born of my mother, to my father. 

In the winter of 1830-31, being then 13 years old, I 
first saw the so-called "Mormon Elders," who came to 
our farm-house, with then- strange doctrine and the Book 
of Mormon. My mother, elder brothers and sisters, and 
many of our neighbors, were believers ; and in the spring 
of 1832, our family removed to Kirtland, Ohio, where I 
first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, the prophet, 
his parents, brothers, and sisters. At that time our 
house for public meetings, 16x24, was ample for the 
Sunday congregation. From the time I first saw him to 
the period of his death, I lived in most friendly relations 
with the prophet and his kindred ; and will here state 
that I never saw in him an ungenerous or dishonest ac- 
tion. In 1837 a complication of civil, religious, and po- 
litical difficulties caused a determination to abandon 
Kirtland, and go to the new home in Missoui'i. The he- 
gira began and finished up with the remaining poor, who 
went in a large body called the "Kirtland Camp" in 
1838, after finishing and dedicating the temple. 

Ere we had reached the desired haven, the cruel order of 
Gov. Boggs had been proclaimed, and many of our peo- 
ple were fleeing, for a more hospitable country, for their 
lives, and were kindly received by the people of Illinois ; 
many of whom were noble, high-minded, and generous 
people. 

* Since the foregoing was written a letter from St. George 
informs us that Mr. Johnson had emigrated to Arizona and is 
now dead. 



APPENDIX. 641 

In 1839 NaiiToo was foimclecl, at Commerce, and many 
of the exiles gathered there. Change of location and 
climate, exhaustion and poverty, made this then unhealthy 
region more deadly still, — all were more or less sick, and 
many died. 

I soon went as pliysician and nurse, and so acted, until 
I was prostrated with fever. I was at the laying of the 
foundation and capstone of the temple — was afterward 
imprisoned therein, and still later saw its destruction by 
fire. I was P. M. at Macedonia (now Webster) and 
kept a store also. When Gov. Ford with State troops 
was in Carthage, Col. A. W. Babbitt and myself went 
over to talk with him. The Governor told us his plan : 
to get Joseph and Hyrum Smith to deliver themselves up 
and go to Carthage jail, and he would then disband the 
troops and not allow them to march into the city ; and 
asked the Colonel and myself to carry a dispatch to the 
prophet that night. It was raining and nearly sundown, 
but we accepted the mission, ordered the buggy, and 
started, but were immediately stopped by the military, 
who rushed before and around us, threatening our lives if 
we did not return. Sheriff Backenstos and others en- 
deavored in vain to open our way, and not until the 
Governor stood on our carriage and loudly commanded 
a dispersion, were we allowed to go on. Darkness came. 
We were pursued, but having turned towards La Harpe, 
when we reached the open prairie, we were saved. AH 
that stormy night in the wet prairie, we traveled, and at 
daylight found ourselves near Warsaw — turned our course 
—presented the Governor's message — waited a day, 
when Joseph and Hyrum Smith, accepting the Governor's 
promise of protection, started on return with us to Carth- 
age. But meeting the officer sent to demand the State 
arms, the party returned to Nauvoo. 

Early in spring, after the death of the prophet, while 
in bed at home in Macedonia, I was awakened and called 
to the door by some 30 mounted men and told to leave 
the country within 30 days, — nor stay at my peril. I 
asked wh}^, what had I done? and was answered " Noth- 
ing ; " but that were I permitted to stay, other Mormons 
would remain, and they were determined to rid the county 
of all speedily. Unable to dispose of property or gain 
means, I went meantime to Nauvoo, to gain time ; 



542 THE PBOTHET OF PALMYRA. 

was present and bore arms in the fight between the new 
citizens and so-called posse ; was taken prisoner and 
incarcerated in the temple. Afterward I was permitted 
my liberty (?) on condition of leaving the State in 12 
hoiu'S, to which I agreed. There being no ferry boat run- 
ning, I took the first steamer, which happened to be bound 
for Galena, and with my family left Illinois. The excite- 
ment and exertion consequent upon the rapid transpira- 
tion of events brought on a severe attack of fever, and 
I was prostrate and delirious, and first found myself and 
family on the levee at the steamer landing at G alena . Find- 
ing small chance here for one so destitute, we must needs 
return by next steamer, and lantled at Montrose sick 
and destitute. Mr. Peck paid my debt to the steamer, 
and we took first opportunity to remove up the Des Moines 
river, and in the spring of 1849 arrived at Kanesville 
(now Council Bluffs) ; built a storehouse, the first frame 
building built on the Missouri slope, and started a store, 
suppljnng the great overland emigration to Utah and 
California. In 1850, being in bad health, I crossed the 
plains to Utah in July, and returned in October greatly 
improved in health. 

In 1852, I, in company with Almon W. Babbitt, es- 
tablished the Council Bluffs Bugle ^ a weekly democratic 
newspaper, which was destroyed by fire in 1853, together 
with m}^ stores and business, taking nearly all I had ; 
but soon another office was in its place, and I published 
the paper until 1856, and had meantime issued the Oma- 
ha Arroii\ the first paper published in Nebraska ; and 
also established another office at Crescent City, Iowa, and 
published the Crescent City 0?*ac/e, and in '57 the Council 
Bluffs Press; and at Wood Eiver Center, Central Ne- 
braska, the Huntsman's Echo was published, and a mer- 
cantile supply station established. In autumn of 1858 I 
(Johnson, Blake & Co.) sent the first train of goods for 
miners' supplies to the ' ' Cherry Creek " mines, and we built 
the first house on the new site of Denver City. Being 
editor of a democratic paper, and not approving the war 
programme, — I conducted it prudent to leave the frontier, 
and go to mj' kindred and people in Utah, which I did in 
1861, since which my labors have been divided between 
horticulture, mercantile and publishing pursuits. 

I am now 65 years old, and I have 17 living children and 



APPENDIX. 543 

18 grandchildren, — all a pride and comfort to me. The 
descendants of my parents, now settled in the Rocky 
Mountain region, number over 500 — among whom there 
is no one profane, a drunkard, a gambler, or a harlot ! 

The Hegira from Nau^^oo. 

Early in February,- 1846, the Mormons began crossing 
the Mississippi River, exiles from Nauvoo, to seek a 
home in a land of which little was known, except that it 
was a mountain desert ; and by the first of March 400 
wagons had accumulated a few miles from the river, in 
Iowa, and in organizations of tens, fifties, and hundreds, 
officered and ready. Though scantily supplied with 
even necessaries, the cavalcade started northwestwards, 
towards the Rocky Mountains. From inclemency of the 
weather, and scant supply of teams, the able-bodied, 
male and female, traveled on foot, and great hardships 
and much suffering were experienced in the slow toiling 
progress through snow, mud, and storm, many falling 
sick on the way over a trackless country across unsettled 
Iowa. 

That the sick might be cared for, and rest given to 
teams exhausted, two settlements were made on the 
route, called severally Garden Grove and Mount Pisgafi, 
where rude houses were erected, ground broken, and 
crops planted ; all teams that were able pushing on, the 
foremost arriving at Council Bluffs early in June, then 
occupied by the Pottawattamie Indians. On the 26th 
of that month, a United States recruiting officer arrived 
in camp, by order of the President of the United States, 
asking for the enlistment of a battalion of 500 men to 
marcli to California to seize and hold that country, then 
a Mexican State. This demand was cheerfully responded 
to, the enlisted men officered, and on the 15th of July 
commenced their march. 

The loss of so large a force from the camp made it im- 
possible to move forward that season. So a location was 
selected on the Avest side of the Missouri river, by consent 
of the Omaha Indians, who owned that country ; houses 
were built, the prarie sod turned over, and much of late 
crops planted, ranges for stock selected, men sent into 
Missouri to obtain grain and provisions for their labor, 
and all that was possible was done to sustain and feed 



544 THE FROPHET OF PALMYBA. 

the multitude through the approaching winter. The place 
was named "Winter Quarters," and before the falling of 
snow, a city of near 500 rude buildings had been built 
for dwellings, shops, schools and houses of worship. 
From toil, hardship and privations of the journey, change 
of climate and habits, many who hopefully started upon 
this pilgrimage were laid to rest upon a high bluff above 
the rude town ; while the graves of others who fell by the 
T/ay marked the course of their journeying with sad 
monuments of their religious zeal, and faith in the doc- 
trine this people professed. In course of the winter and 
spring, flour, meal and meat were brought up from Mis- 
souri — the result of labor and exchange of such property 
as could be spared — to amply supply the multitude, that 
by springtime had gathered for the journey. Watches, 
jewelry, and many valuable trifles were exchanged for 
food, clothing, and necessaries for the journey ; and 
on the 7th of July, 1847, as many as could be mus- 
tered with safe teams and outfit started from Winter 
Quarters, leaving the remainder in a condition to raise 
their bread until prepared to follow. The camp con- 
sisted of 73 wagons, 143 men, 3 women and 2 children, 
148 souls, — the families remaining behind to follow the 
train of the pioneers whenever the condition of things 
would permit. 

This party was organized into companies of tens, with 
a captain over each, with Brigham Young as Commander- 
in-Chief ; and thus equipped, organized, and oflScered, 
made the first white man's wagon trail up the Platte 
River ; making boats and rafts upon which to cross 
streams, killing buffalo enough for the meat supply, 
arriving in sight of Chimney Rock May 23d, at Fort 
Laramie June 1st, and the South Pass on the 26th. On 
the 4th of July the passage of Green River was made ; 
and here they met Samuel Brannan, who had previously 
landed at San Francisco with a company from the east 
in the ship BrooMynn^ whence he had come to pilot the 
pioneers on their journey. 

Entering Salt Lake Valley. 

On the 24th of July, 1847, the company of pioneers 
entered Great Salt Lake Valley, and encamped on the 
^ite of Salt Lake City, celebrating the event by worship 



APPENDIX, 545 

and rejoicing. The next cla}^ plowing ground for crops 
commenced, and potatoes and many seeds were put in 
the ground, and water for irrigation taken from City 
Creek in a ditch. In days following the country was ex- 
plored 100 miles north and nearly as far south. On the 
29th about 400 of the Mormon Battalion returning from 
the Pacific arrived at the camp, having in compau}^ 100 of 
their brethren from Mississippi, adding 400 head of stock. 
The site of Salt Lake City was determined in council. 
On Sunday, the 20th, a conference was held and men 
chosen both for civil and religious officers of the colony, 
and on the 26th most of the Battalion and pioneers 
started on their return to Winter Quarters, where their 
families had been left. On their return they met 600 
wagons of familes and brethren on their way to their 
new home, and arrived at Winter Quarters, Oct. 31st. 

The next year the emigration for Salt Lake numbered 
nearl}^ 1,000 wagons, — and thus was the foundation 
laid for the richest and most populous and prosperous 
territory of the Rocky Mountains ; rich in climate, pure 
water, minerals, grasses, and the varied products of the 
soil. 

At Work in Earnest. 

Now explorations continue, roads are made into the 
canons for timber and lumber, houses built, lands sur- 
veyed, fields fenced, and the city laid out ; lands plowed, 
canals dug, and seeds of every attainable utilitarian plant 
put into the ground ; and local government established. 
Settlements were extended north, south, and west fifty 
miles. The year following, the first crops in nearly all 
the settlements were devastated by crickets, that brought 
the colonists nearly to a state of starvation. Bran-bread, 
wild roots, and sometimes the hides of cattle, were sweet 
morsels. Late crops were planted and happily saved 
the colony. The colony was increased to many thou- 
sands, and settlements increased. A constitutional con- 
vention was called, a constitution and state govern- 
ment provided, and representatives sent to Wasliington 
on behalf of the " State of Deseret." Congress took 
action and organized the country into the Territory of 
Utah in 1850, with Brigham Young as governor, — and 
there was peace, prosperity, and plenty in the laud. 



546 THE PBOPHET OF PALMTBA. 

In 1849 began the rush of emigration from the East 
for the El Dorado of gold in California, first discovered 
by members of the Mormon Battalion, while digging a 
mill-race for Captian Sutter. The next year the tide of 
gold-seekers was immense, and millions of dollars' worth 
of property was left by the roadside, and in Salt Lake ex- 
changed for trifles, including wagons, merchandise, tools, 
and every conceivable thing needed by the colonists. 
For these they exchanged the produce of the country, 
fresh teams, pack-saddles, etc. These were providential 
supplies on both sides — saving life with one party, and 
driving want from the other. And thus this young col- 
ony largely facilitated the settlement of the Golden 
State. 

When gold was discovered in California, Captain Sam. 
Brannan (one of my old schoolmates) , together with the 
remnant of the Mormon Battalion, and passengers on 
the BwoJclynn, together joined in the gold search, aban- 
doning the site of San Francisco, where they had made 
claims, and settled ; and within a year large sums were 
collected, of which one-tenth was paid as tithing, and 
soon a golden currency was coined at Salt Lake, and for 
several years was used in commercial business at par. 
Being lighter than U. S. coin, but without alloy, its 
coinage and use were discontinued. This influx of the 
precious metal materially assisted the colonists in the 
purchase of machinery greatly needed, and aided the 
large emigration that yearly crossed the plains with 
wagons. 

The Federal officers, non-residents in the Territory, 
arrived in July, 1851 ; but not satisfied, returned and 
resigned their commissions the following year. 

These vacancies were subsequently filled by the ap- 
pointment of Messrs. Kinney, Stiles, aM Drummond to 
the bench, and A. W. Babbitt, of Utah, secretary. Ex- 
cepting the last named, these returned, in 1856, to "Wash- 
ington, and their falsehood and misrepresentation of 
the condition of things in Utah, was the cause of send- 
ing an army to Utah in a. d. 1857, upon the strength 
of the statements of these men, without having sent a 
commission to ascertain the facts. 

The people of Utah withstood this outrage upon their 
rights as American citizens, and refused to allow the 



AFFENDIX. 547 

army to enter the settlement. Meantime the legislative 
assembly met and sent a memorial to Congress, asking 
to be heard. Commissioners were finally sent, and re- 
turning, made report of the utter falsehood of the judges. 
The army marched in and formed an encampment at 
Camp Floyd ; the new Governor (Cumming) was installed 
the people of the colony exoneraed from the crimes 
charged against them, and peace again restorad, at a 
cost to the government of some millions of dollars, paid 
for the administrative blunder. 

Much credit is due to Thomas L. Kane for the settle- 
ment and prompt adjustment of this difficulty. 

Industries and enterprise again assert their sway ; set- 
tlements are yearly extended — even into surrounding 
territories ; machinery, mills, and factories set in mo- 
tion ; and again the destructive cricket and grasshopper 
appear in myriads on several occasions. In 1861 and '62 
the Atlantic and Pacific telegraph was completed, and 
settlements extended to Bear Lake in the north, and to 
the Colorado, far south of the southern line of Utah. In 
January, 1870, the last rail of the Utah Central Railroad 
was laid at Salt Lake Cit}^ amid the rejoicing of many 
thouands who had gathered to witness it and the ap- 
pearance of the first train of cars from the junction (at 
Ogden) with the Union and Central Pacific, which the 
colonists had greatly assisted in constructing. 

The same year the Utah Legislature passed the bill 
granting suffrage to women ; also, previous to the last 
date, the people of Utah had built telegraph lines to 
every important settlement in the territory, and at a later 
date extended a line into Nevada, at Pioche, and north 
into Idaho. The Utah Southern and extension reached 
its present terminus in 1880, and they also had built a 
line north from Ogden into Idaho, and another westward. 
The vast mining operations going forward, nearly the 
whole extent of the territory, together with a large sur- 
plus of grain and other produce, the need of machinerj^ 
and moving of produce, greatly hastened the completion 
of these roads. The settlements and the region of Wash- 
ington and Kane counties possess a mild climate, and 
produce most semi-tropical fruits and crops, cotton, exotic 
grapes, etc., in great perfection. 

Since 1875, a large number of LTtah colonists have 



548 THE FEOFHET OF FALMYBA. 

been settling the vacant regions of Arizona, New Mex- 
ico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada ; and these 
are reckoned among the most industrious and enterpris- 
ing of the good citizens of these regions. The numbers 
of this people in these mountain regions, outside of Utah, 
will approximate 75,000. 

Brigham Young, the founder of Utah, died at the age 
of sevent3^-six, and was deeply mourned by all his people. 
Following his death, the twelve apostles assumed control 
of the affairs and interests of the church, and were thus 
sustained by all the congregations. 

The mining, commercial, manufacturing, legal, and 
other business has grown to important proportions ; the 
people are in many instances wealthy, and all are well- 
to-do, there being no citizen paupers. 

This condition of things has attracted many lawyers, 
speculators, and sharpers. Some of these men have been 
government appointees to official positions. An antag- 
onism has ever been fostered by these people, termed 
outsiders, newspapers published, clubs organized, and 
ever}^ means employed, including the aid of missionaries 
of various denominations, to break up the unity and co- 
hesiveness of the people, that they may obtain political 
control. Congress has been repeatedly appealed to, to 
aid in the work of taking from the people their religious 
and political rights, and in a number of instances they 
have succeeded in getting laws passed by Congress, os- 
tensibly for the eradication of polygamy, but really for 
the purpose of breaking up and destroying the religious 
system of the people of Utah, as is apparent on reading 
the discussions in Congress, on the recently passed 
Edmunds Bill, and the published admissions of the au- 
thors of this un-American measure. 

Utah to-day, under " Mormon rule," is the most pros- 
perous, and best governed of all the Eocky Mountain 
States and Territories. Let us see — "A tree is known 
by its fruits," is a trite and true saying. Let us reason 
together — shake the tree, examine and test the fruit, ere 
we judge the tree, or the doctrines, teachings, and practices 
that bring such results. 

All the facts, figures, and statements following are de- 
duced from published official reports, and open and ad- 
mitted facts, in approximate measure and number. 



APPENDIX. 549 

The present (1882) population of Utah is 150,000 ; of 
this there are but about 15,000 non-Mormons. 

This population is distributed among 250 cities, towns, 
and settlements ; Salt Lake Cit}^ with a population of 20,- 
000, is the largest city and capital — politically, religiously, 
and commercially of the territory. 

There are in Utah 1,000 miles of telegraph and 500 
miles of railroad. 

Value of exports and imports, $20,000,000 annually. 

Amount of jobbing and trade, $12,000,000. 

Annual value of manufactures, $500,000 (not includ- 
ing mining) . 

Annual product of mines, $10,000,000. 

Utah contains 85,000 square miles. Of this there ax'e 
in cultivation 250,000 acres. Varying in altitude from 
2,900 feet above sea level at St. George, in the extreme 
south, to 6,440 in the far north at Randolph, on Bear 
River. The Wasatch Mountains rise to an altitude above 
the sea level from 6,000 to 13,000 feet. 

Great Salt Lake covers an area of nearly 4,000 square 
miles. 

The coal lands in Utah, as returned by government 
surveyors to the land office in Salt Lake City, are 125- 
000 acres. 

Value of capital used in mining and reduction works, 
$25,000,000, approximately. 

Valuable minerals and ores found in Utah, and more 
or less worked ; viz., gold, silver, copper* lead, zinc, an- 
timony, arsenic, sulphur, alum, sulphate of iron, cement, 
lime, salt, potash, mineral wax, asphaltum, plaster of 
Paris, and last but not least, iron and coal in vast quanti- 
ties. 

Utah has 100 flouring mills, 125 saw mills, 20 tanner- 
ies, 6 cotton and woolen mills with 5,000 spindles, 20 
boot and shoe factories, 10 furniture manufactories, a 
number of foundries and machine shops, broom manu- 
factories, 25 printing-offices, and as many newspapers. 

Acres in fruit, 8,000, annual value, $500,000. 

Number of horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, and 
swine, 600,000, valued at $8,000,000. Wool clip of 1882, 
estimated at 2,000,000 lbs., value $500,000. 

School population in Utah, 35,000, and over 350 
schoolhouses ; the school property representing a value 



550 THE PROPHET OF PALMYRA. 

of three-fourths of a million dollars. Money raised by 
taxation for school purposes, S35,000 ; appropriated by 
the Legislature for schools, 20,000. There are several 
academies and one collage in Utah. 

Comparative Illiteracy. 

The amount per capita of our school population that 
is invested in school property, Utah, exceeds several 
southern and western states, — is in advance of j3oth 
Indiana and Illinois, and the general average of the 
entire Union. According to the population, Utah, as 
compared with Massachusetts — 

Has a larger percentage of school attendance ; 

A smaller percentage of illiteracy ; 

Less percentage of convicts ; 

Only about a fifth of the percentage of insane ; 

No paupers among our citizens ; 

A larger percentage of printing establishments ; 

A much larger percentage of churches. 

Utah has far less percentage of white population that 
cannot read and write, that are over 10 years of age, 
than the white population of the whole United States. 

The percentage of total white population who cannot 
write in Utah, is 5.71. Sixteen states and territories 
show a far higher percentage — eight being above 15, and 
two above 20; Rhode Island having 8.72 and Massa- 
chusetts 5.14. ^ 

Before the advent of non-Mormons into Utah there 
were no saloons, no gambling houses, no gaudj^ temples 
of departed virtue, and prostitution was unknown, until 
introduced by United States officials. 

There are in Utah 300 societies for the relief of the 
poor and afflicted, with a fund at their disposal aggre- 
gating over $100,000. 

Through the bishops and others, in all the cities, 
towns, and settlements, provisions are made that no 
human being need go hungry. 

In every town and settlement in the territory there 
are organizations for mutual improvement of the young 
that hold regular meetings monthly or oftener, having 
good libraries, and lectures, scientific and religious. 

In nearly every settlement, town, and city, there are 



APPENDIX. 551 

organizations for agricultural improvement, — gardeners* 
clubs and pomological societies. 

In every ward in the Territorj^ teachers are appointed, 
whose duty it is to watch over the actions and interests of 
the people, restrain disorder, to settle all difficulties, peace- 
ably if possible, and bring to account the refractory and 
those who trespass upon their neighbors, and to promote 
good feeling and brotherly love and unity. 

Criminality. 

The non-Mormon population of Utah is about 10 per 
cent. The arrests made in Salt Lake City for the year 
1881, were 1,020 ; of this number 169 claimed to be Mor- 
mons, and 851 were non-Mormons. 

In the city and county prisons, there were recently 35 
prisoners, all non-Mormons, and in all the 14 jails and 
prisons in the Territory, there were 125 prisoners, and of 
these 114 were non-Mormons. 

Of the 20 counties in the Territory, 13 are almost ex- 
clusively Mormon, and these contain no dram shop, 
brewery, gaming house, brothel, bowling saloon, or 
pauper. All houses of prostitution, and other disrepu- 
table concerns in the Territory, are kept and patronized 
by non-Mormons. 

Eighty per cent, of all litigation in the Territory, is of 
outside growth and promotion. 

Over eighty per cent, of suicides, homicides, and in- 
fanticides, in the Territory, are perpetrated by the 17 
per cent, of non-Mormons. 

The Mormon population are peaceful, law-abiding, 
industrious, temperate, social, hospitable, and honest, as 
a nile. 

They built several hundred miles of both railroad and 
telegraph, through the Rocky Mountains. They have 
built all the other railroads and telegraph lines in Utah. 

They have paid the expense of emigrating more than 
50,000 of the industrious poor from Europe, and many 
of these are now among our most thriving farmers and 
artisans. 

In 1830 Joseph Smith organized a church of but six 
members. The present month was 52 years since that 
occurred. In that time, the doctrines he promulgated 
have been preached to every nation of the civilized world, 



552 THE FBOFRET OF FALMTBA. 

* 
and the present number of believers in this doctrine, 
and members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, called 
Mormons, reach the enormous number of nearly 300,000, 
counting all ages, of white population, and representing 
a property value of over $100,000,000. 

In all honesty and fairness, can this people truthfully 
be called poor, ignorant^ indolent^ criminal, or unchns- 
tian ? Judge them by their fruits. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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